Mortgage offer declined

GinaO

Has anyone been in a situation where the property they were buying the owners had built on land that turned out not to be their’s to build on in the first place? They’ve tried contacting owners but heard nothing back so indemnity insurance isn’t an option so have asked their lender (Natwest) if they will still lend if once purchased they apply for statutory declaration? 

ACG

They wont lend on a property you would not own. That issue needs resolving before exchange/completion. 

housebuyer143

GinaO said:

Has anyone been in a situation where the property they were buying the owners had built on land that turned out not to be their’s to build on in the first place? They’ve tried contacting owners but heard nothing back so indemnity insurance isn’t an option so have asked their lender (Natwest) if they will still lend if once purchased they apply for statutory declaration? 

If it's waste land with no owner then after 12 years they can claim adverse, otherwise don't buy the house until it's resolved. You can't claim adverse possession on registered land.

If they can legally claim possession then it's likely they will need to amend the plans with land registry to include the extra land before your lender will lend.

annetheman

Just to correct the above, you can claim adverse possession on registered land - as long as the squatter has been using it as their land for >10 years WITHOUT permission (can't claim adverse if you were given permission by the landowner) and various other requirements: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

Just wondered what you decided, OP? Are you proceeding with the purchase? Purely for my interest as I'm 8 months in and no exchange in sight, though our circumstances are different - my seller's adverse claim is for unregistered land with no structure or easements on it.

housebuyer143

annetheman said:

Just to correct the above, you can claim adverse possession on registered land - as long as the squatter has been using it as their land for >10 years WITHOUT permission (can't claim adverse if you were given permission by the landowner) and various other requirements: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

Just wondered what you decided, OP? Are you proceeding with the purchase? Purely for my interest as I'm 8 months in and no exchange in sight, though our circumstances are different - my seller's adverse claim is for unregistered land with no structure or easements on it.

I don't believe this is the case anymore - if it's registered and you apply for adverse possession then they will write to the owner who can contest it. It's much more likely the owner comes back and wants to keep their land.
Unregistered land is just yours to claim after 12 years of uncontested use. I recently sold mine with 12+ years use and a declaration of such and the new owner just applied to change the title on registration. No issues at all 

annetheman

housebuyer143 said:

annetheman said:

Just to correct the above, you can claim adverse possession on registered land - as long as the squatter has been using it as their land for >10 years WITHOUT permission (can't claim adverse if you were given permission by the landowner) and various other requirements: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

Just wondered what you decided, OP? Are you proceeding with the purchase? Purely for my interest as I'm 8 months in and no exchange in sight, though our circumstances are different - my seller's adverse claim is for unregistered land with no structure or easements on it.

I don't believe this is the case anymore - if it's registered and you apply for adverse possession then they will write to the owner who can contest it. It's much more likely the owner comes back and wants to keep their land.
Unregistered land is just yours to claim after 12 years of uncontested use. I recently sold mine with 12+ years use and a declaration of such and the new owner just applied to change the title on registration. No issues at all 

Yes, exactly. Once you make the adverse possession application, LR will write to the registered owner to notify them of the application and they have a time limit to contest. Some owners do, some don't. My point was only to correct what you said above "you can't claim adverse possession on registered land" -- you can.

Do you know what the new owner just applied to change the Title on registration to? If you have just recently received the Possessory Title and sold to the new owner, LR will not approve an application for it to be turned into an Absolute Title until another 12 years has lapsed - will be useful to know as I am the buyer in this scenario and intended to wait out the 12 years.

My seller has just been asked to make a new statutory decleration to support the application, similar case - unregistered garden land, fenced off with evidence of sole use as his own for >12 years. Frustratingly, if he had spotted it when he bought in 2000 and applied then (though possessory applications had different requirements then), he would have enough time by now to turn the possessory Title into Absolute. Sigh...

annetheman

And sorry to derail your thread OP - my main findings when I was plonked into this horrid scenario is that if there is a structure on the possessory Title land, it gets a whole lot messier and harder to get a mortgage. I think you might be able to do some digging on the lender's handbook: https://lendershandbook.ukfinance.org.uk/lenders-handbook/ to find any lender who is okay with structures on the possessory title land as long as indemnity insurance is in place (Santander are okay with this specific scenario).

housebuyer143

annetheman said:

housebuyer143 said:

annetheman said:

Just to correct the above, you can claim adverse possession on registered land - as long as the squatter has been using it as their land for >10 years WITHOUT permission (can't claim adverse if you were given permission by the landowner) and various other requirements: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

Just wondered what you decided, OP? Are you proceeding with the purchase? Purely for my interest as I'm 8 months in and no exchange in sight, though our circumstances are different - my seller's adverse claim is for unregistered land with no structure or easements on it.

I don't believe this is the case anymore - if it's registered and you apply for adverse possession then they will write to the owner who can contest it. It's much more likely the owner comes back and wants to keep their land.
Unregistered land is just yours to claim after 12 years of uncontested use. I recently sold mine with 12+ years use and a declaration of such and the new owner just applied to change the title on registration. No issues at all 

Yes, exactly. Once you make the adverse possession application, LR will write to the registered owner to notify them of the application and they have a time limit to contest. Some owners do, some don't. My point was only to correct what you said above "you can't claim adverse possession on registered land" -- you can.

Do you know what the new owner just applied to change the Title on registration to? If you have just recently received the Possessory Title and sold to the new owner, LR will not approve an application for it to be turned into an Absolute Title until another 12 years has lapsed - will be useful to know as I am the buyer in this scenario and intended to wait out the 12 years.

My seller has just been asked to make a new statutory decleration to support the application, similar case - unregistered garden land, fenced off with evidence of sole use as his own for >12 years. Frustratingly, if he had spotted it when he bought in 2000 and applied then (though possessory applications had different requirements then), he would have enough time by now to turn the possessory Title into Absolute. Sigh...

I believe with the declaration from myself, the buyer was able to register the land upon purchase, but maybe that didn't happen. The solicitor for the buyer seemed more than happy with just the declaration though.