Unregistered Property
Ownership of unregistered property is evidenced by the production of the paper “pre-registration title deeds”. If the property is mortgaged, the deeds will be with the mortgage lender and will need to be requested in writing. If the property is not mortgaged, the deeds should be with the property owner, or may be in storage with the family’s solicitor.
Dealings with unregistered land
When dealing with unregistered property, your solicitor will need to inspect and review the original pre-registration title deeds, and produce certified copies for the buyer’s solicitor to inspect and review. The solicitor will be looking to see that there is an unbroken chain of ownership going back about 15 years and a full record of all dealings with the property for that duration. This essentially means that the documents should provide a complete account of the ownership of the property and of any dealings for at least the past 15 years.
Dealings with unregistered property involve a lot of investigation work and therefore tend to be more costly than dealings with registered property.
At Loxley we deal with unregistered land on a frequent basis, so please contact us if you have any queries.