Unregistered property

Many properties in England and Wales are registered at HM Land Registry, but some are not. Here at Winston Solicitors, we can deal with the conveyancing of both registered and unregistered properties, whether you are buying or selling.

Selling an unregistered property
Buying an unregistered property
Extra costs with unregistered property

How to sell an unregistered property?

You will need to let us know where the unregistered deeds are. If the property is in mortgage, they should be with the lender. If the property is not in mortgage, the deeds may be with another firm of solicitors/conveyancers.
If you do not know where the deeds are, you will need to find out who last held them. If they were held by a firm of solicitors/conveyancers, we can write to that firm to see whether they still hold the deeds.
If the deeds cannot be found, we can obtain copies of any documents from the archives to the former West Riding Deeds Registry. This process can be costly.
We will forward copies of the relevant deeds to your buyer’s solicitors/conveyancers with the draft contract and other papers.
Your buyer’s solicitors/conveyancers will check the title and will raise any relevant queries.

If you are buying an unregistered property

We will check the title documents supplied by your seller’s solicitors/conveyancers and will raise any relevant queries.
If any documents are missing, we will asking for missing information indemnity insurance.
We will register your title at HM Land Registry after completion.

Are there extra costs when dealing with unregistered properties?

The Land Registry fee for “first registrations” is twice as much as their fee for dealing with registered titles. The Land Registry normally takes longer to complete “first registration” applications than applications relating to titles that are already registered.

There is more legal work involved in selling or buying an unregistered property. We charge a supplement to reflect this.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) could be payable depending on the purchase price. See our Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) calculator for a guide to this.

With all property transactions it is important to have a will to reflect your wishes.

Client feedback

Working with Leasa on securing our first home has been incredible. We were recommended Winston Solicitors and it was the best piece of advice we were given. Seeing the professionalism and promptness of Leasa and the team to handle our case I couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much Winston Solicitors for everything, we are so happy with our home.

Sadia

We moved house again recently and there was absolutely no doubt in our minds who to use - we've used Winston solicitors for previous house moves and they were fantastic, as they proved to be yet again this time around. Leasa and Julie were our main points of contact, and were exceptional. We had a small chain but still some fairly complex issues to deal with and they handled it with ease. With all the stresses included in moving, it's great to know Winston were acting on our behalf because we knew we could trust them implicitly to handle everything with expertise. Cannot recommend highly enough!

Marc

Samantha was excellent at keeping me updated on matters. I would usually get same day replies, and if not same day, I received next day replies at the latest. Samantha was assisted by other members of the team (e.g. Joe) and they were also very quick at responding if Samantha was out of office.The whole team were courteous, professional, and friendly, and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Holly

Excellent service Always available and helpful Sidra and Paulo dealt with my sale and purchase of my property- they are brilliant

Nafeesa

Absolutely brilliant service!Thank you so much for all your help and support throughout buying my new home. You made the whole process smooth, stress-free, and kept me updated every step of the way. I couldn’t have done it without you! Highly recommend to anyone buying or selling. Thank you again!

Aden

Excellent service throughout the whole process. My solicitor was very responsive and always happy to chase updates and keep things moving.As a first-time buyer, I particularly appreciated her guidance on what the seller should be responsible for providing and doing, and her attention to protecting my interests and rights throughout the transaction.She explained things clearly, kept me updated, and was proactive whenever there were issues or delays. I would definitely recommend her to anyone buying a property, especially first-time buyers.

Ho T

I used Winston’s for the purchase of my house and couldn’t be happier with the service I received. My solicitor was excellent throughout the entire process, incredibly efficient, professional, proactive and organised. Buying a house can be a very stressful experience, but their communication and attention to detail made the process feel much more manageable and reassuring.I would highly recommend Winston’s to anyone looking for a professional and reliable solicitor. Thank you for making what could have been a very stressful process considerably less stressful!

Aliyshia

Sidraa and Paulo were extremely good dealing with our house sale and purchase. We were kept updated at each stage of the process and found it easy to contact them when we wanted a to have a chat. Thank you for making everything run smoothly.

Brian