unregistered land

[badgercat]

We are in the process of buying a property, my solicitor has just informed me it is not registered with land registry,

Does anyone know the implications of this ? I've already incurred an extra fee but wondered how much more there potentially could be

This happened to me... Bought a 1960s property from the original owners. It was fine, took a while longer than expected to register, but apart fron the slightly higher fee to the solicitor there was no extra cost. I got the feeling it was unusual nowadays but not uncommon. I completed on the house purchase before registering so it didn't delay things timing wise at all.

I quite like being the first registered owner

The buying process will take longer. Depending on what documents the vendors have, it may be fairly straightforward. You can either ask that the vendors register it before it is transferred to you or you can buy it and register it yourselves. Your solicitor is the best person to discuss the implications with.

It will take more of the solicitor's time if there are lots of old documents needed to get back far enough - but if there are just a couple of clear conveyances the extra time and effort is minimal.

Its had one owner since being built in the 60's, he has passed away though so i dont know the state of the paperwork available.

Sometimes the easiest solution's n to this minor issue is to ask the sellers to register it first. Then they're selling a clearly registered title to you.
Not a big issue either way, assuming there is no question as to their title.
What does your solicitor advise?

Doesn't make any difference if previous owner is deceased, in that the estate/executors can apply for first registration before selling.

It's unusual because most areas had compulsory registration a few decades ago - but some didn't. It's not a problem though and I wouldn't expect your solicitor to charge more unless it's a really hideous sets of deeds and the boundaries are all over the place.

What will cost slightly more is the Land Registry fees. If you've had a quote for them, you may have been given the figure for an electronic application but all first registration applications have to be sent by post.

I wouldn't expect the seller to apply for first registration either tbh.

It will depend where the title to the land it was built in is. Need to get back to the 20s IIRC.

when I trained as a solicitor in the early 80's there was still quite a lot of unregistered land about, so if it hasn't been sold for a while that will be the reason. My mother lives in a house purchased by my father in 1948, still isn't registered.

I had this.
The sellers registered it and it was done before we exchanged.

It's not as unusual as people sometimes think: compulsory registration only came in in the mid to late 1990s in some areas.