Slow land registry - removing expired restriction

hobbles123

Does anyone know if there is any way to get the land registry to expedite the removal of an expired restrictive covenant? 

We're currently in a chain that is at risk of collapse with our buyers not wanting to proceed unless a restriction that expired a few years ago is cleared off the title. We were told initially that it was something the land registry would handle quickly. Our solicitor applied to remove it back in March/February, yet we've heard nothing back from the land registry and the restriction is still there when I checked the title myself yesterday.

We had been working on the assumption that 6 months would be more than enough for the land registry to do its thing. Apparently not

Our solicitor has said there isn't anything they can do but wait. They may be correct but the waiting is stressing us out and we're trying to see if there is anything we can actively to do speed things up.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated!

sheramber

hobbles123 said:

Does anyone know if there is any way to get the land registry to expedite the removal of an expired restrictive covenant? 

We're currently in a chain that is at risk of collapse with our buyers not wanting to proceed unless a restriction that expired a few years ago is cleared off the title. We were told initially that it was something the land registry would handle quickly. Our solicitor applied to remove it back in March/February, yet we've heard nothing back from the land registry and the restriction is still there when I checked the title myself yesterday.

We had been working on the assumption that 6 months would be more than enough for the land registry to do its thing. Apparently not

Our solicitor has said there isn't anything they can do but wait. They may be correct but the waiting is stressing us out and we're trying to see if there is anything we can actively to do speed things up.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated!

Try posting on the Land Regustry questions thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5685941/land-registry-questions/p544

silvercar

Your solicitor should have applied for it to be expedited. That would have got it seen at least. It could even have got it resolved within a couple of weeks if everything was in order. 

It may be that the delay at Land Registry (blamed on the perfect storm of increased transactions post Covid, a back log of cases, staff working from home…according to a podcast I heard) is the cause, but a property solicitor should be aware that cases can be expedited if a purchase or sale hinges on the case being resolved.

EssexHebridean

Yep - a straightforward application to expedite via the "Contact us" link on the Land Registry site. Use the memorandum of sale as the evidence, or correspondence from the other side confirming that they will not proceed until the restriction is removed.