Check your Title Deed for problems!

[Nigel Howarth]

Since 2011 registered owners of properties (i.e. the name of the owner recorded on the Title Deed) have been prohibited from transferring, selling or mortgaging properties suffering from serious planning infringements. The Title Deeds of affected properties contain a note stating ‘Certificate of Unauthorised Works‘.

This was a positive move as it prevented unscrupulous vendors dumping their worthless and possibly dangerous properties onto their unsuspecting buyers while retaining responsibility for sorting out the mess they created.

However, in 2021 the government introduced law that provided a temporary amnesty permitting registered owners of properties (in most cases the developers who built them) to transfer and/or mortgage properties despite the fact that they had been issued with Certificates of Unauthorised Works.

While the amnesty was in force between April 2021 and December 2021 nearly 13,000 transfers took place. I know for a fact that some of these properties have been issued with Certificates of Unauthorised Works, prohibiting their new owner from selling or mortgaging them.

It’s possible that some members of this forum will be unaware that they own ‘blighted’ properties.

To see if you’re affected and what you can do about it, please see my article.

Regards,