We purchased a probate property early last year and though one of the death certificates took a while to be processed the sale went through. I was then waiting for the sale record to appear on the Land Registry which eventually it did. However, around November it disappeared. This made me suspicious. I then pulled up the title on the Land Registry website and discovered that the titles were still in the names of previous late occupants. I say “titles” because I then discovered that there was another separate title for the adjoining land on which half the garage stands which the previous occupant bought in later years from the neighbour so as to build a garage. This was never highlighted to us and it didn't occur to me that half the garage width (approx. 1.5m x 10m) could have a separate title!
In late December, when I communicated with our solicitor who had overseen the purchase, it transpired that the previous application (following completion of our purchase) to the Land Registry was cancelled due to the discharge from the seller's lender not being provided in time. So, they had contacted the probate company's solicitor and were waiting for their confirmation that the charge had been removed from the title. I also raised the issue of the additional title and she basically said thanks for letting her know!
I contacted our solicitor again two months ago and she said it is now with the land registry. As I was rather anxious about this, I then contacted the probate company's solicitor who gave me a slightly different story saying that he was making enquiries with the probate company about this. This made me even more worried. So, I contacted the probate company today to see if they could give me any further information. They basically told me where to go and to only communicate via my solicitor.
I asked my solicitor about this again last month and she repeated that this was with the Land Registry.
Then yesterday I saw our next door neighbour by chance. He had a very concerned look on his face and asked if everything had gone ok with the sale because according to him, the estate agent who sold us the house has approached him recently and asked if he would like to buy half of the land on which our garage stands as “We did not buy it!”
Luckily, the estate agent's advert is still live and clearly shows the house was advertised as including the garage. It is mentioned in the text, there are photos of it in the advert and it is included in his walkthrough video! To be honest, we actually thought he was ok as well. Middle aged gentleman and quite well spoken. He came across well until this!
Any advice on this would be most welcome as this has put slight downer on our family's weekend. The silver lining is that the neighbour says he has no interest in this and can’t believe the estate agent or probate company would try to pull this after the sale.
The other silver lining is that both titles are in the deceased owners names and there seems to be very restricted covenants which seem to bind the land to the adjoining property and prohibit anyone who does not own land adjoining it to have an interest.
I have also passed this new information about the estate agent onto our solicitor and I am really hoping this can get resolved.
Am I worrying excessively?
Anyone with better knowledge than me on these matters, your input would be welcome!