Title plan correction and registration of new owner

<span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">Good afternoon,</span></span><br> <br> <span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">I hope all is well. I am in the process of purchasing a flat in London. The flat is former council housing and the leaseholder remains the relevant council. We discovered as we neared completion that the title plan in the lease document is incorrectly positioned (the wrong flat has been circled/highlighted in the title plan). The council has since inspected the property and has confirmed that this needs to be rectified. A surveyor from the council is now drafting up a corrected title plan. From that point, we understand that the council will update the lease document.</span></span><br> <br> <span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">We are then a little unclear on what happens next. My understanding is that the updated title plan / lease will need to be registered with the Land Registry by the seller. The seller is reluctant to finalise the process of re-registering the correct title plan before the sale completes and we are concerned that the sale will fall through as a result.</span></span><br> &#160; <ol> <li><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">Can we complete on the sale and then the seller’s solicitors can submit both the updated title plan/lease and change of owner to the Land Registry? </span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">Are there any risks to this approach? Solicitors have not given us a straight answer on how the process works</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">Should we be insisting that the seller submit the updated title plan prior to completion and that we file for expedition of the registration application?</span></span></li> </ol> <br> <span style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;">Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.</span></span><br> &#160;

Good Afternoon Ed - the title plan is 'ours' so I imagine you mean that the landlord/tenant are trying to amend the lease plan and then register that amendment with us.<br> 1. that's for you/your conveyancer and lender to decide - many lenders won't say Yes until such a thing is sorted<br> 2. there are always risks where a registered title is not right and a seller is trying to correct it - again one for your conveyancer although the same lender caveat re Q1 of course<br> 3. In my experience most would insist but as Qs 1 and 2 the answer is the same&#160;

Thanks so much for your quick response, Adam, much appreciated! I think that's right on the lease plan (correcting the wrongly shaded/indicated flat in the building).<br> <br> We are cash buyers so there aren't lenders involved but understand that it's a risk for onwards sale if needed.<br> <br> Final question -- is this considered a &quot;complex&quot; change that would take some time, with or without expediting? (Or a straightforward matter assuming the council's legal department correctly implements the changes, and so wouldn't be too time-consuming on the Land Registry side?)<br> <br> Best,<br> Ed

Ed - it would be considered 'complex' from a HMLR perspective but that's not really an issue as whoever submits the application needs to then request expedition to hasten progress<br> My advice would be to encourage them to sort out the new deeds; submit the application to update both the landlord and tenant's titles and then request expedition to get the thing moving at our end asap

Thanks. Ok, sorry, one more question actually. As a cash buyer, what are the risks in a tangible sense where a registered title is not right and a seller is trying to correct it? (So where there are no lender issues)&lt;br&gt;&#160;<br> <br> Would an indemnity solve for these risks as we wait for the Land Registry process to be completed?&#160;&lt;br&gt;<br> <br> Apologies for what must be silly questions but we are really struggling to get answers from the solicitors on both sides.

Ed - the main risk is you end up with the problem to solve yourself. You need to rely on your own conveyancer here to discuss risks and whether it's worth sorting yourself with the landlord or whether it's best to get the seller to deal with it first - plenty of factors to consider before any sale/purchase completes but it's your conveyancer who is your risk-assessor, not HMLR

Thanks, appreciate the help!