Disaster! The deeds to our house do not show our garden... What on earth happens next?!

[Eternalrealist]

So we are very near to exchanging with our buyer and their solicitor has flagged that the land registry deeds do not show the boundary of / that we have a garden!
The house we live in is very old 1800's and we have always understood that at some point the majority of the original garden was sold off to one side ( much larger house than ours) this left about thirty feet ( basically a courtyard)
Buyers spigot or had pointed out that when you look at the land registry plan and compare it with the dimensions of the estate agents particulars there is basically no garden a all!
We are obviously worried sick not only at potential loss of sale but also the wider much more worrying possibility that we to not 'legally' own the garden.
Is anyone able to tell me what is likely to happen next/ worry/ best case scenario?

Thanks

It could be that there is a second set of deeds for the garden, particularly given that a sale of some of the land took place in the past. When we bought our house, we actually had 2 sets of deeds, because the previous owners had purchased a very small additional plot of land at the end of their garden about a year after the house was built. Our solicitor managed to get the 2 deeds put into a single set after we had purchased the house so that there would be no confusion further down the line.

I do feel for you - we discovered the day before exchanging on our old house that we didn't legally own part of the garden (can you see a theme emerging - I have never ever had a straightfoward house move!). After much digging, we couldn't prove who actually did own the land so we were able to take out an indemnity insurance for a few hundred pounds to cover ourselves. This may also be an option for you. Good luck!

On the land registry website you can pay a small fee to find out who the legal owners are of any bit of land in the country. I used it once because a house I was considering buying was right next to a very small bit of wasteland, and I was wondering if I could buy it and extend the house in that direction. It was relatively easy to find the plot and put in the enquiry. You may well find that the owners are yourselves! If not, you may be able to claim ownership of it based on years of unchallenged use of it as if it was (you'll need a proper lawyer for that!) If it is two plots of land and you own both you will have to pay for two lots of conveyancing fees - it may be better to pay to get the two plots merged into one like tatty says.

Land registry check is the first move.
Second point - how long have you been there as that will affect title if there is a dispute (it should have come up in the searches when you purchased after all)
then yes, find a property contract specialist solicitor and get it sorted : should be quick and not too expensive.

Many thanks for the replies.
We are confused as our solicitor asked us to 'respond' to the query and to be honest we did not actually know how to!
We are struggling to understand how this was not flagged by the solicitor when we purchased the house just under five years ago.
The garden has been as it is for at least fourty years and likely much longer with no disputes without neighbours about the usage or ownership.
Will try to discuss with solicitor on Monday and see about requesting another land registry search and take it from there.

You need your lawyer to do an index map search of the part which you thought was your garden. You probably have an unregistered title which someone has missed registering or is registered but been missed. If all else fails it sounds like you could claim a possessory title from long uninterrupted use but you may have to track down the previous owners to swear a statutory declaration. Your sol should advise on all of this. Is it the same firm you used on your acquisition? If there was a bit of a mess up on your acquisition you will have a claim against that lawyer as the first thing you do is check that the estate agent particulars match up to the title!

This happened to us last December.

We were almost at exchange when my buyers solicitors flagged up that the boundary was not in the correct place. As far as I was concerned the boundary had not altered since the house was built 25 years ago and was not picked up when I bought the house 15 years ago.

My solicitor helped us deal with Land Registry who advised us that part of the garden was unregistered. We made an application for Possessory Title, Land Registry sent out notices to various people who might have a greater claim to the land than us. These letters gave 20 days notice in which interested parties could claim. Luckily we were given the Possessory Title without any claims being made. It did, however, take nearly three months (Xmas/New Year delays etc).

The buyer at the beginning of the chain pulled out. Our buyer stuck with the delay and luckily found another buyer for his property fairly quickly, the property we moved to was empty, so we were still able to move, though the delay did mean frayed tempers and threats to pull out etc.

I wish you all the best in sorting out your problem. Unfortunately you will undoubtedly need to get it sorted otherwise you may find it impossible to sell.

Hi spotty that's really useful info (knowing the actual terminology to check with solicitor I mean!)

When we purchased we used a fixed price conveyance, they were not good at all but we were really up against it financially. Learnt from this experience and this time using a reputable legal firm.

It will not be possible to ask for a statement from the previous owner as sadly she has since died and even when we purchased her affairs were being managed by a POA.

However we have neighbours n one side who have been here for 20 years ish whom would support us if needs be.

Thanks again I will update to tell all as to how it goes!

Thank you dippy, that's rather depressing as I am sure we will lose our buyer with an extended delay ( and it took 9 months to get to an offer) but on the flip sie good to hear yo got things sorted out!

Yes Index Map search. Your solicitor can do it quickly and it only costs £5.

This will show whether the land is registered and if so the title number. Your sol can then get a copy of the title revealing the name of the owner (hopefully yourselves). If the land is unregistered, you will be asked to swear a Statutory Declaration or Statement of Truth stating your useage of the land for the past 5 years. You will also be asked to pay for an Indemnity Policy for the buyer which with any luck they (and their mortgage lender) will accept. Unfortunately a minimum of 12 years is required to apply for possessory title, so unless there are previous declarations available this will not be possible at this stage.

You may possibly have some questions to ask of your previous lawyers, however if you were shown the plan and asked to check it showed the extent you thought you were buying and never then checked it or queried this yourselves then potentially not. However, regardless they might agree to reumburse you for the out of pocket expenses in getting ths sorted e.g the Indemnity Policy.

Double disaster just found out that the person who owned this house before us died a few years ago. So even if there is a separate deed for the garden which is fairly likely, it was never transferred to us and I have no idea how this could be transferred to us given she is no longer around to do it.

I think we've going to have to take legal action against original conveyancers, how the hell could they have missed this!!??

There's a glimmer of hope... Since the sale was only 5 years ago, if the deed for this bit of land WAS transferred to you, and even if the document itself is lost, it will be recorded electronically with the Land Registry. Fingers crossed.

Hi OP, the Executor of her Estate would be able to sign a Transfer if that is what's happened.

How are your current solicitors getting on with their Land Registry searches?

Hi triple, thanks so much for your reply!
I spoke to our solicitors today who thankfully seems on the ball and helpful. He has commissioned the index map search, am hoping this will come back soon so we at least know how to move forward, whether that's trying to contact the executor (very useful to know this didn't realise it was possible) or buy the garden ( if legally owned by one of our neighbours unwittingly!) or option three try for the indemnity approach ( which will still probs mean listing the purchaser).

I will update this thread as and when we know more! X

Also may be of interest that I attempted to contact the previous conveyance today.... Guess what they cannot locate our file (OMG!)
I have to wait til tomorrow to speak to someone who I suspect is the firms manager??!!