unregistered part of land causing delay in purchase

Hi Adam, 

We are in the process of buying house Title number EX966868 .

We are done with all searches and everything else that is required to be done to exchange contracts but one thing holding up is the boundary . There is a small piece of land which forms the parking area which does not show registered on the land registry. Our conveyancer has advised that till it is not updated in the land registry the lender will refuse giving the mortgage. The property is 7 years old and the sellers lawyers have told us that they have applied for Adv1 expedite application and all supporting documents have been submitted on Thursday .It has already been 3 month since the house buying process and this is holding up the exchange.My wife and i are in great stress as we want this to be completed soon .

 Can you please check if our sellers solicitors have applied for the ADV1 and if so has this been acknowledged by Land registry  .

 We would be grateful to hear back from you

Hi Gary - nothing as yet but if they have applied by post it maybe too soon to have been received/appear as such
Once it is then they should receive an acknowledgement. They would then need to request expedition to reduce the initial wait time before processing starts - Request an expedite - GOV.UK 
Two things to add
The first is this thread which explains the possible timeframes involved re the actual processing of such an application - Adverse Possession - Claimed Land - Impact on Timescales · HM Land Registry 
The second, and perhaps most crucial, is that if their claim is for 7 years then it's very unlikely to get past the first stage. I imagine that's something your conveyancer has already discussed with you/the seller but something to flag if not 
 

Hello Adam - Thanks for the quick response. Really appreciate.

On your second point, we did raise this with our solicitors that the property in question is only 7 years (its a new build) but we were told that the only way this sale would proceed was if the seller was to apply for an Adverse Possession Claim (ADV1) with the Land Registry immediately. Only after the title and plan is updated the lender will sanction the mortgage.

The slither of land that's unregistered does not share a boundary with any of the neighbours but rather with the Highway authority as its between the house and the footpath (front of the house)

Our solicitor has shared the following with the sellers solicitor and we are wondering if this is now just not a waste of time if the Land registry declines the application

"For a greater chance of success of the adverse possession claim, we recommend that you visit the Land Registry Practice Guide 4 and :-
(a) Complete section 12 and 13 as appropriate.
(b) Enhance the ST1 to confirm that this land is used solely for the property by means of access to the property only.
(c) Note the purpose of the land also forms part of the parking area, which is exclusively used by the property for the parking
(d) In section 11, it would be useful to establish the situation of the land at the time of the Sellers acquisition, as I am sure that this issue arose.
(e) Was the fence in site when the Seller purchased from builders (new build) as we note that the fence divides the land (parking area) from the garden area.
(e) What enquiries and investigations took place of the previous owners when the Sellers purchased, Did they complete a Statutory Declaration/ST1. Add circumstances and findings.
(f) In Section 5 define the land as shown coloured blue on the plan.
(g) Evidence of factual ownership is required by the Land Registry to consider an adverse possession claim and it is important to demonstrate the Seller has physical control of the land. Have the Sellers maintained the car parking spaces or cultivated it. Can they produce any invoices for maintenance and any photographs would be useful.
(h) Would the property be disadvantaged by the Land Registry not granting possession. If so how and why should be inserted in Section 11.

As the Sellers purchased less than 12 years ago, as much information on the position of the land, its upkeep and usage is paramount."

I would sincerely appreciate any guidance from yourself and hence attaching the current title plan with the unregistered land highlighted in blue

Kind Regards
Gary
 

Gary - it's not for us/me to comment on the legal advice given or planned next steps.
All seems very 'reasonable' advice/requests and it maybe that they are looking to ensure that if the application is unsuccessful they have enough to still go ahead knowing that you can then apply to register the land for yourself after the required period of time?
Please do discuss with your conveyancer/legal rep although from what you have shared they perhaps won't move their position until the application has been considered/actioned as appropriate

Appreciate the help Adam.

what you said makes sense and I hope is indeed the case with this particular application.

I will recheck the status of the application once I get the acknowledgement no from the sellers solicitors.

Have a great day ahead and kind regards

Hello Adam,

I was informed that our Sellers solicitors received an acknowledgement on Tuesday (8th July) and requested for this to be expedited immediately.

House Title number EX966868
Address - Brunswick, Pump Lane, Springfield, Chelmsford CM16TB

Would it be possible for you to check if this was picked up by the Land Registry?

Kindest Regards

Hello Gary - nothing received against that title number although that's the main property. I would expect to see a 'new' application to register the adjoining and unregistered land - that has not as yet appeared.
Once it has they can then request expedition - Request an expedite - GOV.UK using the provisional title number and our case reference 

Hello Adam 

Below is the new title no with the application reference. Could you please check and let know if this is in the que to be reviewed by HMLR

Enquiry reference: 250709-4897090

Application Reference: MI14B60

Title Number: AA84832

Kind Regards 

Gary 

Hello Gary - it's already been reviewed and rejected. Confirmation of that rejection has been issued by post to the firm who submitted it explaining why it was being rejected due to the time period included in the claim, and which we discussed previously as being insufficient
AA84832

Thanks for the prompt response Adam. Really appreciate your help with this. Fingers crossed as to what the bank has to say on this.

have a wonderful day ahead and a great rest of the week.