House Partially Built on Council Land

m4cc45 · 24 Feb 2022 at 13:40

Hi

As I'm selling my house it's come to light that it looks like my house is partially built on Council land. It was built 18 years ago and no-body seems to have noticed. The previous solicitors used failed to notice it as well.

It also happened to the next door neighbors and they had this resolved.

What I'm trying to do is find out how much the neighbors paid to fix this issue - does anyone know where I can find this information. The land we would need would be about half what the neighbors needed as the neighbors plot is an L shaped plot but I'd like to get an idea.

Thanks,

M.

P.S. If anyone has been through this and they could tell me the process / time took that would be fantastic.

bainbridge · 24 Feb 2022 at 18:49

Have you asked your neighbours?

m4cc45 · 24 Feb 2022 at 19:23

I should have mentioned this in the OP but there English is quite poor. Good enough for a hello and goodbye but that’s about it. I have tried previously and a bit more recently but they’re either really don’t want to speak to anyone or just don’t speak much.

M.

wonko · 24 Feb 2022 at 21:25

Your solicitor (or you) can probably do Land Registry searches to work out if your neighbour bought the land from the council and perhaps also see how much was paid.
If the land wasn't transferred, then it could be that your neighbour took out an indemity policy, which would insure them and all subsequent owners against costs of resolving the anomoly if it ever became an actual issue.
You could ask your solicitor if an indemnity policy would be an option for you - if so then it may be a lot cheaper and quicker than (for example) negotiating and buying the land.
A typical condition on these policies though is that you don't tell anyone of the issue you're insuring against, so if you talk to the council first (or they already know about the issue) then it may not be possible.
Just a thought and IANAL etc. etc. etc.

MattTheTall77 · 25 Feb 2022 at 16:03

As mentioned, an indemnity policy is the quickest and likely cheapest option. If you weren't selling then you could have looked at adverse possession, if it's been in the sole possession of the property for over 10/12 years that is a route to look at.