Intermediate Lease

We are in the process of selling our property but the buyers solicitors have discovered an intermediate lease on it. We purchased the property with absolute freehold title back in 2016 and nothing was mentioned about an intermediate lease.

Our solicitor has raised this issue with LR but we are still waiting for you to sort it. Today is the 20th working day and still we haven’t heard anything. Our buyers are getting jittery about the hold up and we are getting worried that the whole chain is going to collapse.

I keep looking on the government website and it’s still showing as freehold and leasehold.

Can you give any update?

Should have added, Title number for freehold is HS335386 and leasehold is HS82391.

Would really appreciate some help with this if possible ASAP as it’s quite urgent,

Amanda - I'll check with the casework team dealing with the request to amend the title. It's been partially processed but due to the nature of the amendment requested it does need consideration /approval by a senior officer.
I have asked for it to be escalated
I'll post again once I have something concrete to share
HS335386

Thank you, I think our solicitor is ringing tomorrow but it’s really quite urgent 

Our solicitor was told when she chased the other week that it had gone to the legal team, is it still with them? I stupidly thought this wouldn’t take too long to sort 

Our solicitor has chased today but all she was told was that it’s escalated and with a senior officer but they wouldn’t give a timeframe to when the issue might be sorted,, that really is not acceptable.

I understand your SLA is 20 working days, well that was up yesterday with no resolution.

I guess it’s probably time to lodge and official complaint or contact our MP as our whole chain us at risk of collapsing and we’ve already spent thousands on the legal work.

Amanda - it has been escalated with the casework team and point of referral. The solicitor has also been in touch to do the same
If you wish to make a complaint then our complaints procedure is available online - Complaints procedure - HM Land Registry - GOV.UK 
HS335386

Thank you Adam

We just need to know how much longer we are expected to wait. Nothing can progress until this is resolved and it’s incredibly frustrating that it been with the Land Registry since early June and we were told it would be resolved within the SLA timeframe, yet here we are in July still in the same position.

I know it’s not your fault and I’m very grateful for your help 

Amanda - totally understand the frustrations involved but the complexity of the amendment from a registration perspective will always create a delay
I assume the 20 days/SLA you refer to is something the conveyancer shared with you. It's probably a moot point now but the actual response we provide re a request to amend a title is "Once confirmed, we aim to deal with errors within 20 working days, but more complex errors can take longer.".
The 20 days is an aim and where complexities arise they will require referral to a senior officer/lawyer to resolve. There is a finite resource involved as a result and delays can arise as here
As posted previously I can't be definitive re timescales and it would be wrong of me to try to do that and then we fall short, again, of your expectations.
The conveyancer has also been chasing progress 
I will post again once I have something concrete to share
HS335386

Adam

I didn’t realise it was complex. The leasehold title should have been merged or removed when the freehold was purchased back in 2006, just like it was for every other property in our road whose owners had purchased the freehold.  I have the document which I believe shows that, yet for some reason, known to nobody it seems, that didn’t happen.  The leasehold never showed up when we purchased the property back in 2016 and has only just come to light now..why? This is what we don’t understand. We have never been contacted for ground rent, whereas our neighbours who are still leasehold pay it. There is no sense to any of this and nobody seems able to give us any answers.

Amanda - all Qs for your conveyancer really but can appreciate that they may not be able to explain everything as they will be 'new' to the property and history of the property
Such things may not be spotted at specific times, such as sales/purchases because the conveyancer/lender involved 'misses' them or they are simply not factors that prevented the purchase from going through.
Complexities can also arise for tenants/landlords when for example a leasehold is registered much sooner than the freehold with the latter also covering other land and property
For example a merger does not happen unless a specific request is made and only the conveyancers who acted at the time can give you an answer as to your 'why?' Q
Paying ground rent is down to the landlord/tenant and is not something we are directly involved with. In my experience, simply from reading posts from others paying or not paying ground rent, is that it can and does vary and sometimes it simply isn't collected because it's not financially worthwhile or they've lost track of events. But again nothing involving HMLR
The only 'sense' you will get will be from your conveyancer who can explain how this all 'works' from a conveyancing and legal perspective. It is them who your are paying for legal/conveyancing advice and who should be able to at least offer a view/answers based on those two aspects and their own experience of course 
HS335386

Thank you for that Adam

i would argue though that this problem would have stopped us buying the property back in 2016 had we known about it but our conveyancer at the time didn’t know anything about it either, they have rechecked their records from that time. It just doesn’t make sense to us at all. Then to be told it was with the LR legal Dept only to now be told it’s with a senior officer, nothing is adding up.

Hi Adam

Is there any update on this? We have been informed that our buyers complete on their sale tomorrow and will be incurring hotel and storage costs. We are hoping to complete in a couple of weeks but need this problem sorting before we can exchange and complete (I appreciate it was our buyers choice to complete on their sale before even exchanging on their purchase but they were about to lose their buyer) this matter really is urgent. Thanks

Hi Amanda - nothing as yet. I see you also rang us on the 8th and that too was escalated re the referral
The casework team are aware of the urgency 
HS335386

Can we sue when we lose our buyers as we most likely are going to? No, thought not.

They might be aware of it but they don’t seem in a hurry to actually escalate things, as nothing has been done on it since goodness only knows when…May karma pay them a visit one day so they can feel the stress and misery that we are currently feeling.

Amanda - you can complain and ask for compensation if that's what you wish to do and feel that it is appropriate - Complaints procedure - HM Land Registry - GOV.UK 
There will be an onus on you to prove any losses are down to failings on our part and provide supporting evidence to confirm that
Totally understand your further comments and I'll share any update as soon as I have it. 
HS335386

I have complained but that takes 20 days minimum to even be acknowledged 

.Our buyers have just rang and have said they are going to pull out if we don’t have some answers by Monday. I know this might not be important to you but it is to us. My husband is unwell and we need to move nearer family and that’s all about to fall through because the LR can’t even let us know what the problem is.

Its absolutely disgraceful and I’m sat here in tears 

Amanda - I have reached out again for assistance as it is important to us. 
I will post again as early as possible tomorrow with an update
HS335386

Thank you, we need a modern miracle I feel

Amanda - you have contacted us through social media as well so am posting again here in an effort to explain what is happening and why 
The key issue is the referral to one of our lawyers - I have spoken to the team responsible and someone is considering the issue now - unfortunately even with escalation such referrals do take time 
As to the wider issue of 'why?' the situation is as follows
The solicitor contacted us to query why a leasehold title for Number 6 was not noted against the freehold title as owned by you
The suggestion of an 'error' having been made triggers the need to investigate the titles involved which includes, in this case, checking paper records from 2007 and before.
You would not necessarily have been aware of this leasehold connection when you bought the freehold title and I suspect the solicitor this time spotted the link and made the enquiry/request to amend as a result
There was a lease against the property but the paper files suggest that this was closed in 2007 when the freehold was purchased and first registered. The paperwork and key legal deed re the transfer of the freehold at that time are however inconclusive hence the lawyer referral to consider
The 'best' outcome would be for us to confirm that the property is not subject to the lease as identified by the solicitor and that no amendment to HS335366 is required. But that's the decision only the lawyer can make here
I will, as posted previously, update you asap 
I appreciate the need to try all channels to try and get this resolved but if you are able to do so please use this channel alone
HS335386