Urgent Land Registry Request

Heather2012

Hi @Land_Registry (or anyone else who can help!)

I'm hoping you can help me please. I am in the process of selling my nan's house in order to pay for her nursing home fees. The property has never been electronically registered. The sale so far has taken 6 months and the buyers solicitor is now insisting that we register the property before they will exchange contracts.

There is a possible issue with the rear boundary where the grey line on the property map is out by about 1mm compared to the red line of the neighbouring registered properties. It doesn't look like an issue to me as there is no scale on the map and I believe the boundary lines can be out by 1-2 ft anyway, but the buyers solicitors want this confirming by a full registration.

Our solicitor has submitted the land registry application and has requested for it to be expedited. However, we need this to go through really urgently because my nan could possibly lose her place in the nursing home (she's only just getting settled there after a few months), if we don't receive the funds from the house sale soon.

Could you advise on how long this is likely to take and if there's anything we can do to speed it up? The application was submitted early last week.

Thanks
Heather

Land_Registry

Heather2012 said:

Hi @Land_Registry (or anyone else who can help!)

I'm hoping you can help me please. I am in the process of selling my nan's house in order to pay for her nursing home fees. The property has never been electronically registered. The sale so far has taken 6 months and the buyers solicitor is now insisting that we register the property before they will exchange contracts.

There is a possible issue with the rear boundary where the grey line on the property map is out by about 1mm compared to the red line of the neighbouring registered properties. It doesn't look like an issue to me as there is no scale on the map and I believe the boundary lines can be out by 1-2 ft anyway, but the buyers solicitors want this confirming by a full registration.

Our solicitor has submitted the land registry application and has requested for it to be expedited. However, we need this to go through really urgently because my nan could possibly lose her place in the nursing home (she's only just getting settled there after a few months), if we don't receive the funds from the house sale soon.

Could you advise on how long this is likely to take and if there's anything we can do to speed it up? The application was submitted early last week.

Thanks
Heather

I'm sorry to read of the issue you are facing. If it's been lodged and then expedited the general rule of thumb is that processing starts within 10 days. Everything then hinges on it being all in order. The solicitor should be able to confirm when lodged and expedited and if processing has started/any issues reported for example

Heather2012

@Land_Registry Thanks for your reply. I think my solicitors are getting fed up of me asking! They've said they're keeping an eye on it and will update me when they know more. So I'm doing everything I can myself to try to speed things up, without pestering them any more. Unfortunately land registry won't speak to me directly because it was the solicitors who submitted the application, and there's no way to check progress of it online.

Do you know if the very slight difference in the boundary lines is likely to cause a problem? Is it correct that these are not 100% accurate anyway? You can see it on this picture - it's the rear boundary.

Land_Registry

Heather2012 said:

@Land_Registry Thanks for your reply. I think my solicitors are getting fed up of me asking! They've said they're keeping an eye on it and will update me when they know more. So I'm doing everything I can myself to try to speed things up, without pestering them any more. Unfortunately land registry won't speak to me directly because it was the solicitors who submitted the application, and there's no way to check progress of it online.

Do you know if the very slight difference in the boundary lines is likely to cause a problem? Is it correct that these are not 100% accurate anyway? You can see it on this picture - it's the rear boundary.

The plan you are looking at appears to be cropped from our MapSearch service. That service is for information only and should be used to check for registered titles. It's not going to be of much use for the unregistered property as there's no registered information to identify. But the next step is to check the property to the rear and look at their title plan to see if that matches the black line (OS feature) and/or the unregistered extent.
If it does then there isn't a problem but some conveyancers may insist that you register first before they will complete. If the MapSearch information is wrong that can simply be amended as it's for information only. It's the title plan that counts

Heather2012

This was the map that my solicitor sent me, I've just snipped it to remove any confidential info. So to clarify, if the title plan of the rear property matches the black line then we are all good, and the registration should go through pretty quick?

Land_Registry

Heather2012 said:

This was the map that my solicitor sent me, I've just snipped it to remove any confidential info. So to clarify, if the title plan of the rear property matches the black line then we are all good, and the registration should go through pretty quick?

That would be my hunch yes but the key is that the deeds/documents you have are enough to register the actual extent of your own property. And that extent does not encroach on or overlap with anyone else's.
As I said the plan you have is for information purposes only and not definitive re the actual already registered extents. Or indeed the unregistered extent.

Heather2012

@Land_Registry thank you so much for all your help. I feel slightly more confident that we should get the registration through soon then. I know we have the property deeds and they have all been vacated etc so hopefully should hear something this week.

When do land registry close for Christmas? I think our 10th working day from submission is Christmas Eve!

Land_Registry

Heather2012 said:

@Land_Registry thank you so much for all your help. I feel slightly more confident that we should get the registration through soon then. I know we have the property deeds and they have all been vacated etc so hopefully should hear something this week.

When do land registry close for Christmas? I think our 10th working day from submission is Christmas Eve!

We are closed for the usual 3 days only over the festive season. If you are referring to the 10 days of expedition then that's noy really how it works. Expedition, once approved, usually means that the processing starts within the 10 days quoted. That's it and everything then hinges on the application for first registration being in order. If it is and it's a simple registration then it can be done same day processing starts. But of something is awry then timescales are likely to be stretched. 
Expedition isn't a 10 day target for it being completed. 

Heather2012

ok, thank you, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the 10 days anyway

Hermann

You should also be considering what the actual situation on the ground is.

It's possible there is a fence at the rear of the property for example, if so does this match the the boundary position as shown on the neighbours registered title plan? This can be bought for £3 as it is a public register.

Where does the neighbours title plan show the boundary to be relative to the identifiable features? For example it looks like there is an outbuilding/garage and the red line runs along the rear of that building however the black line would mean a significant area behind the garage before any fence.

Ideally you want to find the neighbours title plan matches the features as you find them in reality on the ground, ie; a fence against the rear of the building if that is what the neighbours title plan shows, or alternatively a chunk of land behind the garage if that is what the neighbours title shows.

I'm fairly sure your application should include a better plan than the one you've posted as that seems unlikely to meet the recommended standard for an application, so check the submitted plan against the neighbours registered title plan and also the position of the actual boundary fence. All three should essentially match to avoid problems with registration or the buyers solicitors.

If your submitted plan doesn't match the position on the ground it is possible the plan is accepted by LR but then doesn't satisfy the purchasers if for example your plan shows the boundary along the rear of the garage (Red Line) but the actual fence is positioned further back (Black Line).

So the simplest solution is to ensure your submitted plan matches the neighbours title plan and that also matches where the fence actually is in relation to the building. Anything else may be queried by a conveyancer even if its been registered at LR.

As you are in charge of the plan submitted to LR, make sure it fits what you need!

Where is the fence? Red Line or Black Line?

Hermann

Here is the LR guidance on submitting plans....