Missing title deeds! Help!

[Turnipinatutu]

We had our offer accepted on a house nearly 8 weeks ago. The vendors have been very slow to appoint their solicitor and return completed paperwork.
We're still waiting for the draft contract to be sent to our solicitor....

It turns out that the title deeds were never registered to the vendors when they purchased around 30yrs ago.
What does this mean in terms of complications and delays?

We've been told that their solicitor is having to apply to the Land Registry to register the title now. How long does this generally take?

[MrMayoNessie]

I am sure that you can apply online for a copy of the title deeds, costs about £9 have a look on www.landregistry.gov.uk

[ChazzerChaser]

Isn't it normal? If it's before a certain point they need registering for the first time as they didn't used to be registered. Both the houses I've bought had to go through this process. Didn't take long. (Unless this is a different thing of course)

[Turnipinatutu]

Hi MrMayo,
You can apply for a copy of the title deeds online.
But the problem is the title deeds weren't registered to the vendors after they bought the property. I'm assuming they have to somehow prove that they legally have the right to sell it.

[Turnipinatutu]

Chazzer, that's sounds reassuring! They've lived there 30 years or so. I'm sure properties were registered at that time as my parents was.

[iclaudius]

you need to get some sort of insurance thing to protect against someone rocking up with them in ten years time and laying claim to the house
we had this and it took months to buy the house - once we ascertained about this document thing it cost next to nowt and was very quick!

[Turnipinatutu]

iclaudius, I'm assuming our solicitor will advice on that.
What was the reason for it taking months?

[ChazzerChaser]

I thought it was some time in the 70s/80s. Both mine have been bought from people living in them from 60s

[SquinkiesRule]

Deeds weren't registered with the Land registry till mid 80's according to my DM's solicitor she bought the year before it started so has the actual paper deeds for her house, he has to register it for the sale to us. He said it only takes a few days to complete. Their solicitor will sort it out.

[Starlingsintheslipstream]

I wouldn't be inclined to panic unless the title deeds are indeed missing. If it is simply the case that the vendors hold all the deeds but they have never been registered then this is fairly commonplace as compulsory registration didn't come in until 1990 for all of England and Wales. As long as you have a competent solicitor it shouldn't hold things up unduly.

The vendor's solicitors don't necessarily have to register it with Land Registry before the sale. If they insist on it, that may well cause some delays, but weeks rather than months I'd have thought.

[Turnipinatutu]

It would appear that the vendors solicitor is registering it before the sale and that is what we're all waiting for.
Just hope our buyers are understanding about yet another hold up!

[AnotherWorld]

Turnip - feeling your pain. We've been waiting 8 weeks for a draft contract too. Hope they get your deeds sorted.

[Starlingsintheslipstream]

They need to request that Land Registry expedite the application then. If there is a sale pending they will be quite sympathetic. That way it will jump the queue, otherwise it could be a few weeks depending on how much of a backlog the Registry have.

[Turnipinatutu]

I've offered to pick the paperwork up from the vendors solicitor, when it's finally ready and drive it over to ours.
We're just desperate to see some progress!

[Turnipinatutu]

Thanks Starling, I will call the EA tomorrow and ask about that.

[ChazzerChaser]

When we did ours it wasn't registered till way after we moved. There was a deadline with the land registry, I'd guess something like 6 weeks. Although it could be extended. Just thought if mention it in case it's a useful option to avoid delays.

[PrimalLass]

That happened with the house we bought. It took 5 months to get it sorted out.

[Turnipinatutu]

Well the plot thickens!
I called into the EA again today only to be told if still hadn't arrived and managed to find out that the solicitor only applied on the 6th February.
So there really wasn't much hope of it coming through this week as EA promised.
Their solicitor is now saying, "It takes as long as it takes..."

[MrsAMerrick]

We also had this problem - house built in 1967 (we think - no title deeds to prove it!). The house has been bought and sold several times since then, so i think every set of vendors over the years must have been through this.

As soon as our solicitor raised it, she suggested we buy an indemnity insurance policy to protect ourselves just in case, which cost about £150. It was done immediately, it didn't hold anything up.

[Turnipinatutu]

Nobody has mentioned anything about an indemnity policy yet. Vendors solicitor just applying for registration, which appears to now have an unknown timescale.
Do you think us needing an indemnity will be the next thing?

[Starlingsintheslipstream]

Makes you wonder if they actually want to sell it, doesn't it ? Bizarre! As if home buying isn't stressful enough .