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Original poster

House ownership not registered with Land Registry

26 replies

middlingmess · 29/09/2021 15:42

My elderly (widowed) Dad has only just in the last year made a will at my request.

The solicitors we used advised us that my Dads home (owned for over 40 years by him and my late mother) ownership was not registered on the Land Registry.

Dad has the original deeds/conveyancing in his house.

Do we need to do anything? The solictor seemed to think this was important, my Dad has dementia (and will likely need to go into a care home and his house sold in the next few years, house is worth £450k) and I have LPA. Dad has very limited liquid cash.
Solictors are always trying to sell more services (in my experience) so I never know if their advice is worth taking or not!

Anyone on here got any advice?

OP posts:
Unreasonabubble · 29/09/2021 15:49

If you have the original deeds, they can be passed to the buyer's conveyancer. It is then up to that conveyancer, once the sale has gone through, to register the property with Land Registry.

Your Dad's property was probably bought before it became compulsory to register all sales of land and/or property with Land Registry.

Unreasonabubble · 29/09/2021 15:51

www.napthens.co.uk/blog/unregistered-property-whats-impact-move/

Good advice here AND you can register your own documents if you want to do it for peace of mind easily and cheaperly.

Svalberg · 29/09/2021 15:57

I've had a probate sale fall through because the house was not registered with the Land Registry. I was told not to bother because the buyer's solicitor would do all that. Well guess what? They didn't want to. They pulled out on the basis that, despite us having the deeds there might be a problem. In view of the current delays with the LR, I'd say to get it done whilst your dad is still alive. It cost me extra council tax, water rates, insurance, weekly visits to scheme the house etc.

AtLeastPretendToCare · 29/09/2021 15:58

Do you mean the land is completely unregistered (rare but happens) or that the land is registered but their ownership is not reflected?

Kinneddar · 29/09/2021 16:05

Definitely get it sorted now you know about it. Friends of mine discovered their parents house wasn't listed when they tried to sell it after their parents death. It held the sale up by months. Thankfully their buyers were happy to wait

rbe78 · 29/09/2021 16:12

As an aside, do you have POA for your Dad? If not, get it sorted asap (if he is still deemed competent to do so), or things will get very complicated financially very soon in the future as his dementia progresses.

rbe78 · 29/09/2021 16:12

D'oh - I see you do!

DameCelia · 29/09/2021 16:16

Register it now.
Doing it in a hurry is a guaranteed pain.
A buyer with a mortgage will insist you register before they buy, one without really ought to.

If a query comes up from the LR that needs answering it is much easier for someone who's lived there for 40 years to answer.

Original poster
middlingmess · 29/09/2021 17:59

@AtLeastPretendToCare

Do you mean the land is completely unregistered (rare but happens) or that the land is registered but their ownership is not reflected?
The house/land is registered - but he's not registered as the owner.
OP posts:
Original poster
middlingmess · 29/09/2021 18:00

I'm wondering if there is any advantage to delaying registering it in his name (it's his only asset) and then the LA will have to pay for his care? Or goes it not work like that?

OP posts:
feellikeanalien · 29/09/2021 18:03

Whose name is it registered in OP?

YodaiamsaidI · 29/09/2021 18:07

So the local authority pay for his care and then you get the £450k Biscuit

Frankley · 29/09/2021 18:37

This year, l had a small problem with house ownership. I knew a solicitor would sort it out but wanted to see if l could do it myself. I phoned the Land Registry and spoke to a very helpful lady who gave me advice, sent me forms to fill in and l was easily able to do it. It cost me nothing.
I'm not saying that your case is as easy, but if you haven't done so it might be worth asking Land Registry directly and see if they can give you advice.

Billybagpuss · 29/09/2021 18:56

Get it registered if you can, a friend of mine was targeted by a fraudster trying to get hold of the house, it was an incredibly stressful time for her and cost many thousands in solicitors over several years to sort out. Local mp got involved and everything. Your df is in a better position as he’s been there so long but it’s still not worth the risk.

AndWhat · 29/09/2021 19:15

Going against the grain and saying don’t bother. we bought an unregistered house last year following the death of the owner. Our solicitors registered the property for us, due to land registry backlog it took over 9months for them to register. (It also costs)
Make sure all deeds proving ownership are kept safe and lodged with a solicitor or bank of you can. Take photocopies and keep in a different place.

Fredoftheforest · 29/09/2021 19:24

So somebody else is registered as the owner? In that case you should definitely get it sorted. It will be much easier while you can still prove long term occupation etc.

Unreasonabubble · 29/09/2021 19:30

@Fredoftheforest - no you misunderstand. The property DOES belong to her DF, it just has not been registered at Land Registry because 40 years ago, you did not need to do that. Paperwork is all legal and above board as her DF being the correct and rightful owner.

But, in the big scheme of things, before the house is needed to be sold, it would be better to start the registration process now to save time and trouble in the long run. Land Registry are very helpful in this.

Elieza · 29/09/2021 19:46

So, God forbid, what happens if you lose the deeds, there’s a fire and they burn etc?

What happens to his house then? Will it be effectively the state’s house if there’s no obvious ownership?

feellikeanalien · 29/09/2021 20:46

OP you say the house is registered but not in his name. It is therefore not unregistered land.

Many years ago I worked as a conveyancing solicitor in an area of the country where there was still a lot of unregistered titles but that meant that the property was not registered at the land registry at all. As another pp said, at that time, it wasn't always compulsory to register land on sale.

However in this case if the house is registered but not in you father's name then the solicitor was right and you need to register. Otherwise you may have problems if you come to sell. Is it still registered in the name of the person your father bought it from?

Svalberg · 29/09/2021 21:59

@Elieza

So, God forbid, what happens if you lose the deeds, there’s a fire and they burn etc?

What happens to his house then? Will it be effectively the state’s house if there’s no obvious ownership?

No. Up to 1997 the proof of ownership was purely by deeds, then it changed to digital registration at the Land Registry. If the paper deeds are lost for whatever reason, you have to go through a tedious and prolonged process of recreating them from any information that you know, and finding out this information. If you've had a mortgage, you go back to the lender (who won't have records from pre 1997) Anyhow, proof of having paid council tax and such like is used. It's not something that you want to go through.
Svalberg · 29/09/2021 22:01

@AndWhat

Going against the grain and saying don’t bother. we bought an unregistered house last year following the death of the owner. Our solicitors registered the property for us, due to land registry backlog it took over 9months for them to register. (It also costs) Make sure all deeds proving ownership are kept safe and lodged with a solicitor or bank of you can. Take photocopies and keep in a different place.
It's fine to say that if you haven't had a problem. I think you'd disagree if you had had problem. Ultimately it's up to whether the OP feels lucky
Svalberg · 29/09/2021 22:07

@middlingmess

I'm wondering if there is any advantage to delaying registering it in his name (it's his only asset) and then the LA will have to pay for his care? Or goes it not work like that?
The paper deeds should show him to be the owner. Should you have LPA and register it in your name, wouldn't that be theft? I'd think the local authority would be after you for deprivation of assets and financial abuse of a vulnerable adult.
Nyancat · 29/09/2021 22:07

I'd get it registered now, in a previous house we had trusted the solicitor to register it once we purchased, she forgot to and someone else registered a portion of the land in their name. When we came to sell it was a total mess, took years to sort out because the people who had wrongly registered it refused to respond to any correspondence to sort it, chain collapsed because a buyer pulled out and we lost the deposit on the house we were buying. It's not a problem until it is, so I would say get it sorted now when you don't need to.

Fredoftheforest · 30/09/2021 07:49

@Unreasonabubble - the OP says “ The house/land is registered - but he's not registered as the owner.”

I’m aware that 40 years ago not all house purchases needed to be registered. But the OP seems to be saying that the land itself is registered, in which case somebody must be listed as the owner.

Svalberg · 30/09/2021 10:03

[quote Fredoftheforest]@Unreasonabubble - the OP says “ The house/land is registered - but he's not registered as the owner.”

I’m aware that 40 years ago not all house purchases needed to be registered. But the OP seems to be saying that the land itself is registered, in which case somebody must be listed as the owner.[/quote]
In all probability it will show the original owner. The paper deeds showing all transactions since then will supercede (or add to) this.

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