Easement not registered with Land Registry

penelope1990

2 deeds for 1 property bought 5 years ago uk. 

1 deed registered with land registry - no private easement across private land
1 deed un-registered with land registry and unsigned by seller - private easement registered across private land 

private property that we were crossing (which was empty) now sold with no easements across their land.
properties sold by the same property developer. 

which deed is correct?

loubel

You will have to give a bit more information to get any meaningful advice, but an unsigned deed wouldn't create an easement. In reality your best bet would be to speak to a solicitor. A starting point should be the conveyancer who dealt with your purchase, but a more specialist lawyer may be required if the answer isn't clear cut from the titles.

silvercar

penelope1990 said:

2 deeds for 1 property bought 5 years ago uk. 

1 deed registered with land registry - no private easement across private land
1 deed un-registered with land registry and unsigned by seller - private easement registered across private land 

private property that we were crossing (which was empty) now sold with no easements across their land.
properties sold by the same property developer. 

which deed is correct?

Presumably the seller would be willing to sign it. Important question is whether the landowner has signed it. If not, then it is worthless. If the landowner has signed it, then why hasn't the seller signed it and registered it?

penelope1990

silvercar said:

penelope1990 said:

2 deeds for 1 property bought 5 years ago uk. 

1 deed registered with land registry - no private easement across private land
1 deed un-registered with land registry and unsigned by seller - private easement registered across private land 

private property that we were crossing (which was empty) now sold with no easements across their land.
properties sold by the same property developer. 

which deed is correct?

Presumably the seller would be willing to sign it. Important question is whether the landowner has signed it. If not, then it is worthless. If the landowner has signed it, then why hasn't the seller signed it and registered it?

5 years later after our purchase, the new neighbours of neighbouring property we have been crossing, also have no registered easements across their land and have disputed our claim to cross their land. we sent our second deed to their solicitor which does have our easement on it but it is unsigned by the seller and its unregistered with land registry. our registered deed for our house on land registry has no easements on it, and is signed by the seller and it was the first deed we had before asking for rear access across neighbours land which was empty at the time but owned by same seller. (both deeds we have are dated the same day and year by the way). solicitors neighbour says we don't have any claim to an easement across their land and it didn't exist in the first place and our second deed which is unsigned and unregistered isn't legally binding. are they right?

penelope1990

loubel said:

You will have to give a bit more information to get any meaningful advice, but an unsigned deed wouldn't create an easement. In reality your best bet would be to speak to a solicitor. A starting point should be the conveyancer who dealt with your purchase, but a more specialist lawyer may be required if the answer isn't clear cut from the titles.

I have private messaged you with more detail. hopefully you can respond to me with advice. 

loubel

It sounds like you need to raise a complaint with your original conveyancers. If they sent you a deed which included the required right of access but then a different deed without this right was used on completion without you being told of the change.

Unfortunately they will not be able to force the new neighbours to agree to a right of access across their land, although they may be persuaded to agree if appropriately compensated by the conveyancer's insurers. Otherwise you should be able to claim compensation for loss of value.

sheramber

Did the person who sold you your house own the other property until he sold it to the current owner?

Is he the person who has not signed the deed with the easement on it?

penelope1990

sheramber said:

Did the person who sold you your house own the other property until he sold it to the current owner?

Is he the person who has not signed the deed with the easement on it?

yes and yes 

sheramber

The second deed giving the easement  was drawn up after the first deed, but not signed.

Being unsigned it will not be legally binding.

Can the seller  (the property developer )  or the conveyancing solicitor recall why it was not signed?  

Was it an omission  or was it sent for checking or was the easement only for as long as the property developer owned the property/land?

penelope1990

sheramber said:

The second deed giving the easement  was drawn up after the first deed, but not signed.

Being unsigned it will not be legally binding.

Can the seller  (the property developer )  or the conveyancing solicitor recall why it was not signed?  

Was it an omission  or was it sent for checking or was the easement only for as long as the property developer owned the property/land?

No they are unreachable now.

it was supposed to be forever I suppose? But it’s unsigned and not registered with the land registry. The same deed but with no right of way is on the land registry, new owners of the neighbouring land have no rights of way across their land and they have no rights of way registered with the land registry. 

??

GDB2222

How ipenelope1990 said:

sheramber said:

The second deed giving the easement  was drawn up after the first deed, but not signed.

Being unsigned it will not be legally binding.

Can the seller  (the property developer )  or the conveyancing solicitor recall why it was not signed?  

Was it an omission  or was it sent for checking or was the easement only for as long as the property developer owned the property/land?

No they are unreachable now.

it was supposed to be forever I suppose? But it’s unsigned and not registered with the land registry. The same deed but with no right of way is on the land registry, new owners of the neighbouring land have no rights of way across their land and they have no rights of way registered with the land registry. 

??

How important is this? Can you access your property without the easement, for example?  Sorting this out could be tricky, and it is bound to be stressful, so if you have the option of doing without the easement, you should consider that. 

The starting point is to complain to your conveyancer. Do this now, without delay, as you may be time barred from issuing proceedings at 6 years. You should consult a solicitor with a view to issuing proceedings *at least two months before the 6 years is up*. Bear in mind that the clock may have started ticking before the purchase date. 

Getting a solicitor on board doesn’t necessarily mean that you will end up locked in litigation, but it protects your position. So, frankly, if this is important, I would not delay.