News Archives - Page 12 of 18

Oct 22

Land Registry will show who owns property

My parents made tax efficient Wills five years ago involving the Severance of their Joint Tenancy. Two years ago they moved to South Wales and my father has since died. How can I find out whether they own their home as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common.

Critically, if your parents owned their previous property as Tenants in Common following the Severance of their Joint Tenancy at the time of making their Wills, it is of course essential that they also own the South Wales property as Tenants in Common.

Having only recently moved, it is very easy to find out how they own the current property by inspecting the registered titles of the property by obtaining official copies of the Register from the Land Registry.

If your parents own the property as Joint Tenants then there will be no Restriction entered on the Register preventing the disposition of the property by a sole survivor of the two of them.

If the property is owned as Tenants in Common there will be a Restriction entered on the Register preventing the disposition by a sole proprietor. In other words, the surviving spouse alone is unable to sell the property as a buyer will need to obtain the receipt of two Trustees for any purchase monies.

This means that your late father’s Executor will step into your late father’s shoes and sell the property along with your mother in the event of any future sale, or if your mother chooses to continue to live at the property for some years your late father’s share will pass to his Trustees on trust for the residuary beneficiaries, usually the children.

Oct 22

Who pays post contracts exchange damage?

Having exchanged contracts on a house I am buying I now discover there are some tiles missing from the roof and in the recent heavy rain it has caused water damage to the ceiling in one of the bedrooms. Is this now my responsibility, or can I insist on the vendor getting the roof repaired and the damage made good before I move in?”

This all depends on the terms of the Sale Contract. You are entitled to purchase the property in the same condition as existed when you viewed and, in particular, on exchange of contracts. If the seller remains liable for insuring the property then he may be able to claim for the damage on his own insurance.

If the contract specifies you are responsible for insuring the building on exchange of contracts then any such insurable damage would be your responsibility. On the basis that this damage has happened since exchange of contracts – and clearly not caused by the seller – then arguably it is an insured risk and the person responsible for insuring from exchange will be responsible and will have to make a claim under the appropriate policy.

Oct 22

Should I stay silent over noisy flat for sale?

I want to sell my ground floor maisonette which suffers from dreadful noise levels from the flat above. If I don’t declare this at the time of selling, could there be any legal implications for me?

There is an obligation on all sellers to disclose all material facts which may influence a buyer when considering buying your property.

This will of course depend on the nature of certain enquiries raised by a buyer’s solicitor in the buying process, but the standard property information forms which sellers are obliged to complete will usually include an enquiry covering any nuisance experienced by, or complaints made, by the seller.

If a buyer can subsequently show that there was a long history of such nuisance or complaints then it would be very difficult for a seller to deny that it was a fundamental fact which should have been disclosed in the course of the sale.

If you are living in a flat and the noise levels from the first floor maisonette are horrendous then you should immediately draw this to the attention of the landlord. At least you can then disclose that you have done everything you can to address any nuisance – instead of just keeping quiet!

Oct 22

Tenancy in Common could pay dividends

My father and I bought our terraced house together. I had always paid the mortgage on the property which has now been fully repaid and the property will pass to me on my father’s death. However the property remains in our joint names and my father is now 87 and in poor health. Where do I stand if he has to go into a Nursing Home with all the expenses that could bring?

Should your father have to go into a Nursing Home he will be assessed as to his assets in order to establish the contribution that he will be expected to make towards his accommodation. Unfortunately the starting point will be that the property is in your joint names in which case he will be regarded as owning one-half of the property.

One way of addressing this would be to sever the Joint Tenancy and create a Tenancy in Common with you and your father entering into a Declaration of Trust whereby it is acknowledged by you both that due to the substantially greater contribution made by you towards the property, such as repaying the mortgage in full, you owned the property in unequal shares.

This would at least ensure that you secure a greater proportion of the value of the property than would otherwise be regarded as belonging to your father. It is essential that you retain all details and records of the payments that you have made in support of any such Declaration that you own a greater share than your father in the property.

Oct 22

Who owns empty house I want to buy?

I have seen a house I would really like to buy but it has been empty for years and no-one seems to know who owns it. How do I find out who owns it?

The two main sources of information are the Land Registry and the Local Authority. The Land Registry will only be able to advise you of the Registered Proprietor of the title to the property provided, of course, this property has been registered in the first place.

This will only have taken place if there has been a dealing with the title to the property since the date on which the area became an area of compulsory registration under the Land Registration Act. For example, in the case of Cardiff, this was 1974.

If there has been no dealing with the property since before that date then the title to the property will remain unregistered and there will be no “Register” from which you can identify the current owner.

The other alternative is the Local Authority. The property should be on the Local Authority’s Rating List and someone should be responsible for the payment of rates. If rates are not being paid then someone may well have applied for an exemption. I believe councils do hold a register of properties the ownership of which is genuinely unknown and it might be well worth approaching them.

Finally, try the neighbours – a substantial amount of information can often be gleaned from people living next door.

Oct 22

Holding Management Company to account

Some of my fellow tenants in an apartment block in Cardiff Bay have grown sick and tired of the poor service we receive from the Management Company. Repairs are not being done, security is poor and on top of all this we have been asked for an extra payment to finance a shortfall for last year’s expenses. What can we do?

Sadly, with the increase in residential flat developments in marina-type areas such as Cardiff Bay, there is increasing unrest and disquiet with regard to the various management regimes undertaken by large national management companies.

Legislation does allow tenants the right to manage themselves, but this area is extremely complex and will also depend to some extent on the terms of the development Leases and the manner in which the existing Managing Agents were initially appointed.

It is my experience that the large National Management Companies are reluctant to justify expenditures by producing copy receipts etc, as they have so many developments throughout the country they simply do not have the resources or time to justify their own accounts.

This can work conveniently to their advantage and the long-suffering tenant has a very hard battle on his hands to obtain the relevant information or, at the very least, secure proof that this expenditure has been properly incurred.

I would advise you seek the advice of a specialist property solicitor before you take any steps whatsoever.

Oct 22

Neighbour’s cockerel is dawn chorus menace

My neighbour has bought some chickens and a cockerel which he is keeping in the back garden. The garden of my house backs on to his garden and my house is about 50 yards away. The cockerel starts crowing at daybreak and is waking me up every morning. I have complained to the neighbour but he refuses to act. Is there anything I can do?

The remedies available to you will depend on first, whether there is a restriction in the property title documentation restricting the use of your neighbour from keeping animals other than normal domestic pets, and second, whether the Local Authority would uphold any complaint that the noise amounts to a nuisance.

The cockerel may represent a noise nuisance, although only at specific times of the day when it stretches its vocal chords. Such a noise early in the morning may well amount to a nuisance in a suburban residential area.

You should, therefore, check the documents of title to your property and the neighbour’s property to establish whether or not there are any restrictions on the keeping of certain animals. However, your more likely remedy will be via the Local Authority.

Oct 22

Walkaway wife retains interest in house

My wife walked out 16 years ago leaving me to bring up our two young children. We have had no contact whatsoever for more than seven years. The house was and still is in our joint names and we are still married. The children have now grown up and I am thinking of selling up but what do I do about my wife’s name still being on the Deeds. Will she have any claim on the proceeds?

Sadly, yes. As the property remains in joint names your wife still has an interest in it. However, this will become a matrimonial issue and be resolved in accordance with the standard principles applying – which will include the contribution made by your wife to the marriage and, in particular, the property.

The fact that you have been left alone to bring up the children for so many years will no doubt be argued on your behalf in any eventual divorce proceedings.

Unless you can agree an amicable settlement with your wife then the property will form part of the joint property which will form part of the divorce proceedings. It is hoped that your wife will realise that her lack of contribution for so long would result in your being entitled to the majority share in the property or, alternatively, your contributions made over the 16 years would be deducted from her one-half share.

You will need to seek specialist advice from a matrimonial lawyer – unless you can reach an amicable settlement – acceptable to the two of you – directly with your wife.

Oct 22

Ensure your security – and change the locks

I am due to move house in a few weeks time. The property has had several previous owners and was lately used as an investment property occupied by students. Would it be wise to change the outside door locks as soon as we move in?

This is probably something that very few purchasers actually do as they rely on the integrity of their sellers who themselves will presumably have regarded their own security as paramount.

However, when you think about it you have no idea who may have had access to keys at any time and, while the fact that you are purchasing a former investment property will make this point more obvious, it is technically an issue that should be considered by all buyers.

The answer is, of course, should be that to ensure your security you should always consider changing the locks.