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

Great service and would highly recommend. Samantha and Michelle were great with dealing with my first house purchase and completed in a timely manner.I feel the service provided was 10/10 

Matty, Leeds

The team at Winston Solicitors have been Fantastic from start to finish. We're first time buyers, so naturally pretty clueless ourselves. But with the expertise from Winston Solicitors everything went through without a glitch.Highly recommend 10/10

Gemma a

Great to deal with, quick replies to questions, would definitely recommend.

Megan

This team is really well organised, professional and thorough.My family have now used the Conveyancing service, both as Buyer and Seller, numerous times and have been extremely impressed and satisfied. They use simple and effective tools for great communication so you know the status at anytime and don't have to chase to find out. I would recommend Winston Solicitors without hesitation.

Marnie

I have just purchased my first property and used Winston Solicitors after being recommended by my Mortgage Advisor. I dealt with Samantha and Michelle who were amazing throughout the whole journey. They kept me informed of all steps throughout and responded to any queries in a timely manner. They also had an app where you could see progress and what the next steps would be which helped a lot for someone who didn’t know what to do. From putting my offer in to completed took around 8 weeks (no chain). Would highly recommend and I will definitely use them again in the future.

Mattheuw

Winston Solicitors were absolutely amazing! This was our second time moving house with Leasa and Julie and we genuinely cannot imagine the moving process without them! They were so friendly, kept us up to date throughout the whole process (without any legal jargon!) and kept communication open up and down the chain to ensure we had a quick and easy move (with 5 houses in the chain this was no mean feat!) Leasa and Julie went above and beyond, were always accessible via email and telephone, and there was never any need to “chase” because they were both so on top of everything! Words can’t express our gratitude for all the support they gave us in helping us move to our dream home. Thank you both so much!

Sophie

I'm really pleased with the work done so far,I'm proud and happy to use the Winston solicitors

Omonigho

Winston Solicitors have acted for me on many occasions for the conveyancing of property purchases and remortgages. I can't recommend Leasa Foster and her team enough. They make the transactions run very smoothly. They are clear with the information they provide to me, they are clear with the information they expect from me, and they are very thorough.

Sarah