Land Registry questions

Land_Registry · 12 November 2018 at 7:08AM

pt1188 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply LR.

I did ring your helpline and it was suggested that I provide a covering letter explaining why ID1's are not supplied for the other joint freeholders as the value is less than 6k. However if, as you say, I should get an agent's valuation would I need to enclose it with the application to support my case? Or would my covering letter suffice.

I accept that in either case you would still reserve the right to ask for ID1's for all concerned.

Thanks again.

My advice is to get a valuation and submit that with the application as supporting evidence. To not do so may mean that the caseworker asks for that evidence once the papers are considered.

We won't decide on that point until an application is actually submitted

AnnieM2 · 12 November 2018 at 2:12PM

Hoping the LR can provide some guidance here. I am in the process of buying a house which was previously a leasehold house. In February 2018 the owner bought the freehold but in the process an error was made whereby the charges on the title (a mortgage and a loan) were removed in error. I have received correspondence confirming that the error was made by the LR and that in order to rectify it has reinstated the LEASEHOLD title. Separately I have received anecdotal feedback (ie not in the contents of the letter from LR) that the original solicitor spoke with the LR legal team and was advised that after our transaction completes I can apply to have the leasehold title merged into the freehold.

I’m incredibly concerned that this route will lead to me buying a leasehold house against my will. With no evidence from the LR that it’s possible to ‘extinguish/merge’ the title after the sale what protection do I have?

Would appreciate LR feedback on this.

Land_Registry · 12 November 2018 at 4:26PM

AnnieM2 wrote: »

Hoping the LR can provide some guidance here. I am in the process of buying a house which was previously a leasehold house. In February 2018 the owner bought the freehold but in the process an error was made whereby the charges on the title (a mortgage and a loan) were removed in error. I have received correspondence confirming that the error was made by the LR and that in order to rectify it has reinstated the LEASEHOLD title. Separately I have received anecdotal feedback (ie not in the contents of the letter from LR) that the original solicitor spoke with the LR legal team and was advised that after our transaction completes I can apply to have the leasehold title merged into the freehold.

I’m incredibly concerned that this route will lead to me buying a leasehold house against my will. With no evidence from the LR that it’s possible to ‘extinguish/merge’ the title after the sale what protection do I have?

Would appreciate LR feedback on this.

Very difficult to pass anything but general comment as the devil is always in the detail re these things.

IF I have understood your post correctly the current owner applied for merger, that was granted, but the existing mortgage (against the Leasehold) was not redeemed so we erred in closing it.

If that's the case then I assume the sale, if both freehold and Leasehold to you, will allow the seller to redeem the mortgage. And you can then apply to merge the two tenures and close the Leasehold.

So the key is presumably to ensure that you are buying both the freehold and Leasehold tenures. And if you have a new mortgage it is against the freehold only.

But this us not the detail we can advise you on formally. You must rely on your own legal advice before proceeding

konark · 13 November 2018 at 1:29AM

I'm currently applying (via my solicitors) for first-time registration of an unregistered property as I wish to take out a lifetime mortgage. Could you please tell you what the time-scale would be for the LR to process this.

Land_Registry · 13 November 2018 at 10:43AM

konark wrote: »

I'm currently applying (via my solicitors) for first-time registration of an unregistered property as I wish to take out a lifetime mortgage. Could you please tell you what the time-scale would be for the LR to process this.

The current average timescale for a first registration is around 34 working days

AnnieM2 · 13 November 2018 at 12:56PM

Thank you, yes you are correct that the current owner purchased the freehold and a new freehold title was created to replace the leasehold title. However the mortgage charges from the leasehold title were not paid off and were in error not applied to the freehold title.

The new freehold title now references a 999 year lease, and the leasehold title has been reinstated. There is no assurance from the LR letter that the two can be merged. My solicitor says that it should be ok to apply to merge the two post purchase but it seems to be that I have to accept a risk on this as well as the legal costs to rectify the error.

The other solicitor also referenced two possible routes: 1 to ‘extinguish the leasehold title’ or 2 to ‘merge the two titles’. What is the difference? Will I be able to ensure it is route one? I do not wish to own a home with any leasehold given the issues with resale.

Is this standard practice?

Land_Registry · 13 November 2018 at 1:19PM

AnnieM2 wrote: »

Thank you, yes you are correct that the current owner purchased the freehold and a new freehold title was created to replace the leasehold title. However the mortgage charges from the leasehold title were not paid off and were in error not applied to the freehold title.

The new freehold title now references a 999 year lease, and the leasehold title has been reinstated. There is no assurance from the LR letter that the two can be merged. My solicitor says that it should be ok to apply to merge the two post purchase but it seems to be that I have to accept a risk on this as well as the legal costs to rectify the error.

The other solicitor also referenced two possible routes: 1 to ‘extinguish the leasehold title’ or 2 to ‘merge the two titles’. What is the difference? Will I be able to ensure it is route one? I do not wish to own a home with any leasehold given the issues with resale.

Is this standard practice?

We would not provide any such assurance but would refer to our Practice Guide which sets out the registration guidance as to when a lease might be determined. Merger is one option but you'd have to ask the solicitor what they mean by 'extinguished'

Section 3 deals with merger and how to make such an application when both tenures are in the same ownership.

Key parts which appear relevant to your circumstances are
Section 2.1.2 Incumbrances affecting the determined lease - this will presumably not affect as the leasehold charge(s) will be redeemed on sale by the seller/their lender(s)
Because the charges will only be redeemed on sale/purchase it is this which ties their/your hands and the need to complete before applying to merge

Section 3.4 Beneficial easements affecting the leasehold estate - this is a very important question and really comes ahead of everything else as sometimes a leasehold title may benefit from easements the freehold does not

It is though your conveyancer you must rely on here to advise you

AnnieM2 · 13 November 2018 at 1:31PM

Thank you, LR for your prompt response

Land_Registry · 13 November 2018 at 2:47PM

listless wrote: »

The leaseholders in my block are looking to buy the freehold through enfranchisement due to a vexatious freeholder/management company alter ego duo. Before joining the enfranchisement action one of the leaseholders had a lease extension complete. We're now waiting on the LR to reflect this in their records and our solicitor has said that the LR is refusing to expedite the work.

So what is the delay for lease extensions at the land registry? And why cannot this be expedited?

Lease extensions are currently taking on average around 60 working days
Expedition may be refused for a variety of reasons - most common is that there are prior applications yet to be completed and which must be before a later one can be processed, although you infer that there is only one application in existence. The conveyancer will have been given an explanation

laskoibence · 14 November 2018 at 4:07PM

Good Afternoon,

Can You check this for any updates please:

MS563915

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

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