Solicitor contacting me after 18 months

[FerretFumbler]

I’m an idiot, I know, but I sold my house last year and moved into a different property and have just realised I have absolutely no paperwork.
I received nothing from my solicitor after the sale. Should I have proof that this house is mine? What should I have received?

Also they contacted me today (18 months after the sale/purchase) with an attached letter from the land Registry requisition requesting a plan. I have no idea what this is, but they want me to confirm that I will cover the costs.

My solicitor was shit throughout the whole process, although not knowing anything I was probably a terrible client as well.

please help!

Was it all done on an online portal? How did you sign the documents? Maybe all the paperwork is online?

Call an architect and the plan can be done online. I paid 200euro in Ireland for this a few months back.

Your solicitor definitely should have given you a copy of the deeds if you own the house outright but if not and you have a mortgage then the bank will have the copy of the deeds there.

We’ve just sold and all the paperwork was handled via an online portal. But as a buyer you should get a copy of the new title deed through, although can take a few months

The plan request is odd. I've never had that. I've always received a bundle of docs from the solicitor plus the final accounting statement once the sale has gone through.

Property solicitor here. Ask your solicitor for a copy of the title to your new property to check it is registered to you. Re your old property the Land Registry will have requested a plan as what they have is non compliant ie unclear/out of date etc. Unusual but not unheard of. Phone your solicitor and ask why they need a new plan. You will then need to speak to a surveyor rather than an architect who will prepare a plan to lodge with the registry.

if you own the house outright but if not and you have a mortgage then the bank will have the copy of the deeds there

We bought 5 years ago. We were handed all the paper copies of the deeds because our bank now holds them online.

Actually everything is electronic now, there are no physical deeds. Both the owner and lender should have received a copy

Just out if curiosity, did you use a solicitor or conveyancer?

If you've just been sent a letter from the Land Registry with a requisition, that means that the Land Reg is processing the application but hasn't competed it.

Without knowing why you're being asked for a plan, it's hard to give you a definite answer though it sounds like something which should more likely have been sorted out during the process or at least anticipated. Happy to have a look at the requisition if you want to post an extract of it without the personal info.

What property was the requisition for? Was it for your new purchase or the property you sold?

Thanks for your replies and apologies for the delay - was struck down with this awful cold that’s going around.

I’ve attached the letter I received.
When I bought the house I signed the documents and emailed them to the solicitors, but never received anything back saying I actually own the house. Just the form (T11 was is??) saying what fixtures and fittings would be left.

Might be less blurry here:

It is relatively unusual for the title plan already on record not to be adequate for you to register your ownership of the land.

Is this a new build property or an annexe split from a larger estate that was divided for sale?

Can you check the register entry for the property online and see a title plan on there? If so, does it differ significantly from what you've purchased for some reason? Or is there nothing online and this is the first time paper deeds are being registered on the newer digital system for some reason?

No, not a new build or anything. 1970’s house. Don’t think it has been sold before.

Bog standard house, big standard sale from 2 siblings.

Just did a quick search oh HM Land Registry and it says not found. Bizarre.

I think that your solicitors have fouled up and are trying to get you to sort the problem for them, at your cost. Are they trying to save themselves the hassle and embarrassment of having to ask the sellers' solicitors for another copy?

Did you buy a property that wasn't already electronically registered? This can easily happen if the property has been owned by the same person for a long time, and if the paper deeds are missing for any reason (from the previous owner) it could be that Land Registry don't have anything to refer to at the moment.

If the property isn't registered then the seller (looks like a probate sale, which also made me wonder about being owned for a long time/not electronic record) should have sorted this out really. We had this with a property my DH was the executor for, it was down to the executor to provide proof. Probably worth asking your conveyancer some questions about it, Land Registry do have a backlog so the delay may be partly down to that too. Hope you can get it easily sorted, OP.

I don’t have a conveyancer. I used a solicitor.

Thanks for all your answers, but I’m still confused, sorry.

Ok so I understand I need to ask solicitor for a copy of the title to the new property (either electronically or in paper form), but am still confused about the registry thing.
And I don’t understand why it has taken 18 months to discover this.
From what @ChicCroissant is saying, it is down to the previous owner to provide what the Land Registery want.
my solicitor is hounding me for an answer yes or no as to whether I will pay for this but I don’t know how much or what I’m paying for exactly!

Looks to me (a property solicitor) as though this is a first registration for a deceased seller who has lived in the property for decades before dying.

Land registry turnaround time for first registration has been up to 2 years recently, so it's quite likely that it's only recently got to the top of the pile to be processed which is why the Land Registry are only asking for it now.

Doesn't automatically mean that the solicitor has screwed up, Land Registry delays are causing problems for all law firms doing conveyancing, although it's possible that it's a Land Registry delay AND a solicitor cock up. Without knowing the file then I can't be more specific.

I never had this, you've got me worried now.

We had to provide a plan because both our house and the neighbouring property were unregistered, and the boundary was not intuitive. We had it surveyed by a land surveyor, agreed with next door what the red line was and sent it in. Bonus for them was that when they sold the year after, it was already done as their boundary on the other side was already registered.

If the previous owner died, and it was a probate sale, I think you will be on a hiding to nothing to get them to provide anything - as legally the seller was not the person who lived there (on account of them being dead).

Got this response from solicitors after asking why this wasn’t picked up before:

“We will provide you with an estimation cost. This is a First registration application and as a buyer you were aware. Please note it is the Buyers responsibility to register the property. Please understand It is the Land registry’s discretion to request further documents for the unregistered property.”

I was not aware at all!