Missing conveyance and deed

vandy_06

Also wanted to mention that the property had undergone a renovation by a developer in 2019 where roof extension and some other changes were done as per permission granted. Is this a positive sign where no objections were raised regarding restrictive covenants during renovations? 

Green_hopeful

vandy_06 said:

Green_hopeful said:

Is the property registered at the land registry? If so I would guess that the registered title refers to rights or obligations in the old conveyance (a conveyance is just an old document for transferring a property) and deed. It might refer to things you can’t do like operate a factory or other people’s rights eg lay a water pipe or your rights over neighbouring property. 

Your solicitor should provide a report on title explaining the documents that prove the seller is the current owner and any rights and obligations. Do you have the report on title. It’s normally a long letter. Perhaps if you post a snippet of the letter we might be able to make sense on it. Getting indemnity insurance is fairly normal for this sort of thing. 

There might be a copy of it on a neighbouring title at the land registry. If you find out what it’s called eg conveyance dated 7 July 1874. You can check neighbours deeds at the land registry. You can check for free and if by magic you find a copy you can order it from the land registry for £3. It is in a special part of the land registry search for other documents. I probably wouldn’t get your solicitor to look because it might be expensive in their time but I guess you could ask. 

If you go on the land registry website you can search for official copies. The second option is for other documents. 

Then you can see what documents they have.  You can see in this case the land registry has copies of two conveyances and a transfer from the 1930s. It’s because they are referred to in the registered title. Sometimes it will say no copy is on the title. But …. It might be on a neighbouring title.

Best of luck with it. 

Thank you so much. Your suggestion to look for neighbours documents is really helpful. 

Just a quick question, how do I get to request official copies as a non e-business person? Because the pictures you have mentioned in your comment needs me to login via an e-business services account with Land Registry. 

Oh. I am not quite sure. Perhaps contact the land registry. I have an old work access but obviously can’t use it for paid for services. Perhaps you will have to ask your solicitor. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. 

Green_hopeful

EssexHebridean said:

Ok - it’s not reasonable to request the solicitor to advise you on whether you should go ahead or not - that is about more than just the legal situation, for a start. You probably need to think about rephrasing the question - “is there anything that you can see which makes you feel we should think twice about going ahead with the purchase?” for example. 

Have you received the report on title yet? If so you need to read through it with all the documents you have been given to hand. Take each section in turn and be sure you understand it before moving on to the next. anything you are unsure about, make notes to ask the solicitor about.  It is also reasonable if the report doesn’t explain fully to ask exactly what the legal connotations around the missing documents are. At 150 years old and with a pretty that is already registered, it’s not going to cause registration issues, for a start, but it may well be as someone else says that conditions are created which you are expected to abide by, but that you can’t fully explore what is demanded of you. On the other hand, if indemnity insurance is available that will cover you for that, this need not put you off. 

The indemnity policy isn’t going to be a deterrent for future buyers, and as said if you have got a mortgage on it, there is no reason why someone else couldn’t. In fact there is a good chance that the indemnity policy which is acquired for you might even cover any future owners, too! 

Yes you can get indemnity policies that last and cover future owners. I don’t think they are usually very expensive. Sometimes you can get the seller to pay.