Unregistered house

[unregisteredhouse]

I've NC for this.

My elderly DF is moving into a care home permanently this weekend. It's been a bit of a rush as his safety was becoming a concern living alone.

The council want to put a charge on his property as he needs to sell it to pay for the care (he has no savings).
All fine, but this has lead to the discovery that the house (bought in 1981 with a mortgage by my parents, DM died in 2016 passing her share to DF, mortgage was long paid off by then) was never registered with the Land Registry.

We (his children) plan to sell the house on his behalf so I know the new owners can then register the house.

However a couple of people have told me there is a loophole in the law which means if a house is unoccupied and unregistered then anyone can claim and sell it!?!

Bit scared now because it's obviously going to be empty and my DF is going to be registered as resident elsewhere. The house is the other side of the country and it's going to take a few weeks to get it on the market as we need to settle Dad in his new home before we can think of clearing it out for sale.

Anyone ever heard of this loophole and what we can do about it? Conveyancing solicitors have been instructed, but kit around at the weekend to ask.

Thanks for any help on this

*not around

You'll need a very good solicitor to see it through with you. It's doable I'm sure.

You'll need to get it registered to sell it. This happened to a friend of mine. No idea how the house wasn't registered as her parents had owned it since it was built. Her parents died & the sale was delayed until they got the registration sorted

The reason many houses are not registered with the Land Registry, is that before about 1991/1992, there was no requirement to do so. So if a house has been in continuous ownership since before that date, there is a high chance that it will not be registered with the land registry.

Lodge a caution and then do first registration asap.

Several things you can do:

• divert all post to your address so any suspicious changes will be quickly spotted
• Get as many bills e.g. council tax, home insurance set up as online accounts only
• Set up a new email for your DF that you can use specifically for the online accounts in his name
• get a caution lodged with Land Registry www.gov.uk/government/publications/caution-against-first-registration
• make a voluntary first registration www.gov.uk/registering-land-or-property-with-land-registry/register-for-the-first-time Once registered set up a property alert propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk
• look into POA

Someone can't simply decide to sell the house just because it is unoccupied and unregistered. They can claim adverse possession if they have occupied the property continuously for 12 years by sending a statement of truth to the Land Registry and applying for the property to be registered. They will need to show that they have acted as the owner for the full 12 years. If they meet these requirements, the Land Registry will inspect the property (for a fee) and decide if the claim is valid.

Ask the old lender if they still have the deeds.
It doesn’t need to be registered to sell it.

Pretty sure this is actually incorrect and there is a radio 4 program about it (possibly you & yours). Properties in similar situations have been sold and there was absolutely nothing that could be done for the real owner. Would think @Princessglittery advice to register for alerts is a good idea at least.

In fact I just googled and yes there is a Y&Y report on the BBC and other information available. It is property fraud, even the gov.uk website has information on how to help protect a property you don’t live in or that’s unregistered.

You can also register address on gov UK and it alerts you if any land registry activities take place.

www.russell-cooke.co.uk/insight/briefings/2021/fraudulent-property-transactions-what-can-be-done/

Yes - identity fraud can lead to the selling to an unregistered property.

Do you know the neighbours? Because they may also be able to alert you to any suspicious ‘activity’ around the house.

Does the house have Wi-Fi? You could install a ring doorbell or similar. Anyone wanting to sell (or buy) the house is likely to come and look at the outside and may trigger the doorbell camera.

Firstly, don't panic, this will all be worked out. Secondly call up the Land Registry helpline, those guys are really helpful and will talk you through this.

The information I have given is correct. It is the process by which someone can take an unoccupied property and claim it as theirs legally. The fact that some people do so illegally does not mean the above is wrong. Your posts are the equivalent of me saying that someone can't just walk into a shop, take goods and walk out without paying and you posting that this was wrong because some people shoplift.

OP's concern is that she has been told there is a loophole in the law that means anyone can just claim and sell an unoccupied unregistered property. There is no such loophole. Property fraud is a different matter and can happen even when a property is occupied and registered.

This might explain why the seller (previous owners son) camped in his late mothers house until the night before we completed the purchase, the house was unregistered! I thought he was just odd. By camped I mean literally only had a camp chair 😳at the time I was quite worried he would refuse to leave at all!

Just a heads up it can take over a year for a first registration, mine is still not showing on LR after 12 months.

You can only sign up for a property alert if the property is registered. The most effective way to prevent fraud is to add an email address as one of the 3 addresses permitted on the register as contacts. Empty properties are the prime target of fraudsters and unlike snail mail an email is more difficult to intercept.

This is why I have suggested redirecting mail and then Lodging a caution against first registration. The op would then be notified if anyone else tried to register the property.

I recommend that everyone who owns a home puts an email as one contact on the register and signs up for property alerts on their, and any vulnerable family members, properties.

Your local council social services work a hell of a lot quicker than mine with regards to making sure the house is sold . Takes mine months to even arrange a phone call for a financial assessment !

We bought a house that wasn't registered as it was last sold in the early 80's. The solicitors dealing with the sale sorted it in about a month as it was a chain free sale so not much else to do but searches.

Lol it really isn’t! Prh is an actual solicitor, you’ve misunderstood a radio program

@TiredandLate everything apart from straightforward registrations are taking over a year. I expect lenders are getting used to it.

Yes, it's crazy. I'm looking to buy an adjacent piece of land so it will be years before it all shows correctly on the LR at this rate.