Looks like house move is collapsing

[Bzzzzzbumblebee]

After some ups and downs for the last 6 months it looks like our house move will fall apart.

House we loved on the market so we expressed interest and put ours on the market.
That house was withdrawn as sellers changed their minds but we kept ours on anyway.
We got an offer so had a big look around and looked at one we had discounted from just online but loved it in real life.
Put an offer in, all seemed straight forward- our buyers in rented, us, our sellers moving into rented.

There has just been problem after problem, from our buyers mortgage falling through (this is now sorted), new build warranty issues (also sorted) but the latest looks like a deal breaker.

The house is a self build on two plots of land, one of the plots (which has become the garden) has an additional title held by the previous owners. However the actual document has gone missing.

We aren’t prepared to buy a property with a mysterious extra title and have asked the sellers to get it removed. More solicitors involved and who knows how long it could take.

We have said we will give it to the end of the week and then draw a line under it and pull out. Feel so sad, not just for us and the hopes we had for the new house but also our buyer (single mum with 2 kids).

Anyone had similar where it has worked out?

Can't you just ask them to pay for some kind of indemnity? How desperate are your buyers? Couldn't you give it another month to sort things out? Or make a lower offer? It seems a shame when you are almost there with your buyer.

While your on here can you spare a moment to talk to me about your warrant situation and how you resolved? Interested as may have a similar prob.

Warranty

We are buying from self builder who have taken out a 10 year build-zone warranty but it had a condition they needed to occupy the house for a year. This was August 2020

Once we said we couldn’t proceed with out it in place (condition of the mortgage not just us) they have got it adjusted.

I have absolute no idea what indemnity you could get for an unknown tittle. It could cost a lot of money to remove (some of these work on a percentage of property increase). Plus I don’t want to buy a property where there is another interested party (need permission to but up structures/sell)

Our buyer is pretty desperate. I don’t know her background but I do know single with 2 kids, guarantors needed and some releasing of cash from trusts.

Thanks for that. Good info for me as I’m a self builder with build some warranty.

You will need them to apply for title absolute with the land registry. I had a similar issue some while ago and the only way to make the house saleable was to apply for (and get) title absolute. Without it, my sale couldn't proceed. Our solicitor had to resolve it to our cost.

Don't give up. I have a title issue on the property I am buying and have done a lot of research. It seems far more common than I would have expected. There is loads of useful info the Land Registry site on how to rectify the problem so it doesn't have to be a deal breaker.

Have a look through these www.gov.uk/topic/land-registration/practice-guides

I'm going through a similar process so happy to share what I'm finding out but I am not an expert and have no legal training!

Thank you all. We told estate agent we want progress (or at least evidence of movement) this week. I just don't want this to keep dragging on anymore.

I know someone who bought a very similar property for about 30% below market value in the past 6 months. I would haggle.

OP, what has your solicitor said is the issue ie is it that part of the garden is unregistered (and the seller can't prove ownership) or that there's a second title and no-one knows the title number yet? Or is it something different? I'd be surprised if the builder has got this far, even a self-build one, without being comfortable with the title either with what it is or with a proper indemnity policy.

@Bzzzzzbumblebee

Thank you all. We told estate agent we want progress (or at least evidence of movement) this week. I just don't want this to keep dragging on anymore.

I'd be dealing directly with my solicitor rather than the estate agent regarding something like this. They need to talk to the vendor's solicitor and get this resolved.

@GU24Mum when the plot was sold there was a title put on the land restricting what can be built on it, that the original owner needed to give permission for any future sale. This is all on the first page, the second page has gone missing.

Which I’m assuming has something about if the plot increases in value the original owners get a percentage. Which doesn’t seem that unusual reading other posts on here. What is unusual is that no-one can find the document.

The original owners have said make us an offer and we will remove it and we are now waiting to see what our vendors decide to do.

Would you consider going into rented so that your purchase doesn't fall through. Maybe ask your vendor if they are willing to contribute to your additional costs?

No, not interested in going into rented. Market is now very flat around here and 2 teenagers, 2 dogs and a cat doesn’t make it easy.

Hi OP, sounds like a restrictive covenant rather than an extra title. Just to check is it the case that the Land Registry doesn't have a full copy of the document - it normally lodges copies of documents where there are things lodged against the title. It's not unheard of for them to lose pages though is thankfully not common.

If it's an unknown restrictive covenant then that's the sort of thing you'd consider indemnity insurance for though if the document which imposed the covenant is recent that's harder and more expensive. Feel free to pm me if you want to send me a copy of the title.

They have managed to get it removed! Once confirmed then we will e change tomorrow!

From going incredibly slow to stopping now it looks like it is go.

Just need to find a removal company, which I don’t think will be easy.

Great news. Where there's a will....