Land Registry missing lease dead end - please help

wisteria24

Hi there. We’re in the process of buying a property, which our solicitor has flagged to be part leasehold and part freehold title. The terminology used is ’an intermix of legal estates part freehold and the remaining part leasehold’. The lease has expired and the buyer's solicitor applied to the Land Registry asking to upgrade the property to freehold in its entirety in light of the lease expiring.

Land Registry replied and said that to process the application further to determine the leasehold estate registered under the title, the land within the registered extent included in the lease, must be identified.

Land Registry has already told the buyers’ solicitor that they do not possess the lease other than what is set out and supplied on first registration - so basically there is no physical record of the lease. 

The buyer’s solicitor went back  to the Land Registry reiterating that Land Registry themselves don't possess the lease in question. The Land Registry’s responded saying that they are unable to progress the application, repeating that they need a copy of the lease to proceed. So basically we're in a catch-22 situation. I can't believe there is no workaround for this. There must be a way the Land Registry can help resolve the matter, surely? 

I would love to hear from a LR representative or anyone who has been in a similar situation who can help advise. 

Thanks

EssexHebridean

The Land Registry are only able to work with physical evidence - they can only process applications which have a clear course of action. They aren't able to take a legal view of things, hence their explanation that they need the Lease itself in order to proceed. 

Do the sellers of the property not have a copy of the lease dating back to when they purchased? 

Your question is also currently a bit confused as you start by saying you are in the process of buying, but then go on to speak of the buyers' solicitor in the third person...it might be helpful to people if you could clarify the situation! 

propertyrental

you are the buyer or seller?

wisteria24

Hi EssexHebridean - essentially we have discovered that the 'freehold' property we want to buy has a chunk somewhere within it, that is Leasehold. The lease, which dates to the 17th century, has expired - but there is no physical copy of the lease either in the hands of the vendor or in the records of the Land Registry. 

We want to proceed but do not feel we can until the property is merged to freehold in its entirety. The Land Registry say they need the lease to do it, as it wasn't put into the system in 1987 when records were digitised. But the lease is nowhere to be found. 

So the question is, is there some kind of pathway to resolving this and making the entire property freehold in the absence of an archaic and presumably lost leasehold?
Thanks
  

wisteria24

propertyrental said:

you are the buyer or seller?

Hi, I'm the buyer

RAS

This is the seller's problem. If this is a very old property, they may find information at the local County Archives. 

And if the background documents from the first registration indicate the name of the original freeholder it would be worth seeing if there is a file on the freeholder there as well.

user1977

Don't either of the solicitors involved have a clue?

wisteria24

RAS said:

This is the seller's problem. If this is a very old property, they may find information at the local County Archives. 

And if the background documents from the first registration indicate the name of the original freeholder it would be worth seeing if there is a file on the freeholder there as well.

Thanks RAS - the property is 17th Century, it does feel like something we shouldn't be having to deal with, but we're in a difficult position where we need to resolve this, as we are in danger of losing our buyer.

wisteria24

user1977 said:

Don't either of the solicitors involved have a clue?

There seems to be low will from solicitors on both sides to get this sorted.

silvercar

Paging @Land_Registry. 

bouicca21

Is there any information at all about the original parties to the lease?