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Conveyancing Query....

including wills and probate
Maylix
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Conveyancing Query....

#399504

Postby Maylix » March 27th, 2021, 1:34 pm

If anyone of a conveyancing or legal bent can cast light on this I'd much appreciate it....
There's an interesting (oxymoronic!) background to it, which I'll share if anyone's really interested, but basically it boils down to this:

A close relative is selling a lease-hold property for which the local council is the leaseholder. The deeds have a restriction on them stating that

'no transfer or lease of the registered estate before 12 April 2025 by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be completed by registration unless accompanied by a certificate ......' (Basically a certificate from the council).

The council are happy to give this certificate but they are asking for an undertaking (uncapped as far as I can tell) for the legal costs to be borne by my relative. (They have given an estimation of costs of £350-£450)

So the question is, who is responsible for registering the sale with the land registry, i.e. can the seller legitimately ask the buyer to bear the cost of this certificate? (To my laypersons mind, the seller shouldn't care about the registration with the land registry, that is something of benefit to the buyer)

(The council is already charging £250 for the management pack, but that was an anticipated cost. This has come out of the blue)



TIA
May Lix

richlist
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Re: Conveyancing Query....

#399522

Postby richlist » March 27th, 2021, 2:14 pm

The seller bears the cost of the certificate.

Nothing stopping you asking the buyer to bear the cost but that's like increasing the price of the property......Buyer can say no.

Clitheroekid
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Re: Conveyancing Query....

#399534

Postby Clitheroekid » March 27th, 2021, 2:39 pm

Maylix wrote:So the question is, who is responsible for registering the sale with the land registry, i.e. can the seller legitimately ask the buyer to bear the cost of this certificate?

Registration of the transfer is dealt with by the purchaser's conveyancer.

The certificate of compliance is also normally paid for by the purchaser. However, the estimate of fees is ridiculously high - the normal charge is £100 - £150 + VAT (though a local authority wouldn't charge VAT). For example, Southampton Council charge £140.

There's also no justification at all for an open-ended undertaking as to the charges. Issuing a certificate is a very simple administrative task, and the amount of work required is entirely predictable, so that a fixed fee should be quoted. Someone (probably the buyer's solicitor, as the buyer will be paying) should therefore go back to the Council and insist on a more realistic fixed fee for issuing the certificate.

Maylix
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Re: Conveyancing Query....

#399859

Postby Maylix » March 28th, 2021, 5:48 pm

Thanks for the input guys. I've got a bit more time today so here's the oxymoronic background to the query:

The main reason for the compliance certificate seems to be to ensure the council have been offered first refusal on the purchase of the property.
(The property is ex-council, bought over 5 years ago with a discount, so the transaction is out of the date range when some of the discount has to be paid back, but within the range when the council has to be offered the property first).
My relative was aware of the condition so had offered them the property first but they had turned it down. So she went ahead and marketed it through an estate agency, found a buyer who happens to be a company. But guess who owns the company?.... Yep, it's a wholly owned sub of the local council! :lol:
So the council is effectively buying the property anyway, after refusing it, and they want the seller to pay for a certificate to prove they were offered it! Couldn't make it up. ;)

Anyway, stay vigilant people, it's a crazy world out there!
May LIx


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