Skip to main content
Posted Thu, 02 Nov 2023 11:47:35 GMT by Bryan Patterson-Whitaker
Good morning,

My lay client purchased and paid for part of some registered land informally without using a conveyancer. There was then a dispute with the vendor. My client was forced to bring proceedings in 2018 (to be declared the legal and equitable owner and registered accordingly at HMLR). His then solicitors successfully registered a pending land action as a unilateral notice. Shortly afterwards the proceedings were compromised on the basis that the vendor agreed to transfer the land by means of a pre-agreed TP1. There then followed a dispute, within the same proceedings, over the precise boundaries which caused the dispute to rumble on and the transfer did not occur. In 2021 the vendor raised some finance on the land and the lender took a charge (which sits after our unilateral notice). There is also the usual restriction in the proprietorship register preventing the registration of any disposition without the lender's consent. All matters between the vendor and my client have now been agreed and we have a signed TP1 and transfer plan completed. The lender is now being difficult about providing their consent (and a DS3), saying they did not know about the unilateral notice.

On an application for registration, will my client get priority over the lender? If not, why not? I am told that our period of priority has been extended on a number of occasions and is still valid. I appreciate that HMLR may need to see some evidence of the compromise (which would be straightforward to supply).

Thank you!  
Posted Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:07:16 GMT by Adam Hookway
G M Bryan - the Unilateral Notice protects the interest it refers to, namely the pending land action. 
Priority re such interests/legal charges tends to only come into play when for example the lender repossesses through the courts and the priority of the UN then plays out with regards how that repossession is resolved/property sold etc
The 'extended priority# you refer to is I imagine to do with official searches (form OS1/OS2) submitted over time
If you are relying on the UN to enable you to apply to register the form TP1 now and without the consent/DS3 of the lender then you would have to make that case as part of any application 
Posted Thu, 02 Nov 2023 17:16:42 GMT by Bryan Patterson-Whitaker
Thank you Adam

You must be signed in to post in this forum.

Sign in