Owning your own home

Local estate agents would be able to tell you if it's worth it or not. Assuming there's probate to be dealt with, ask a few of them when they come round and value the place. Or just ask them anyway, I guess.

I'm all for automating pro forma calculations, but the point of any professional is to choose which calculations and on what basis. Garbage in, garbage out.

Garbage in, bedroom in kitchen.

Going off my proprietary index of how many "we are valuing properties in your area" flyers I get through the door, I think a lot of agents would be glad for something to do right now.

I score them double when they're hand-written.

Assuming there's probate to be dealt with

I hope not I was chatting to my mum this afternoon!!!

She is going into a care home in Lisbon (hopefully she’ll decide to stay there ) so selling up in London. Thanks all bit of work for me to be doing.

I’d give it a spruce up and clean but nothing major. Keep it furnished to give a sense of how it would be used - folks will likely want to put there ‘stamp’ on it anyway.

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Assuming there's probate to be dealt with

I hope not I was chatting to my mum this afternoon

That would certainly make for an awkward conversation.

nice part of the world :-)

Green is the correct colour.

@EstelleGetty has already mentioned it, but the seller's solicitor (or your solicitor) should be able to confirm in seconds whether or not that passageway is registered land and, if it is, then it's only a few seconds extra work and £6 or so of disbursements to confirm the owners. If it's unregistered land then more detective work is required.

It is definitely something you should be asking questions about - it can be common for a shared access to be owned and maintained by one party, usually then with an obligation on the other users to contribute to the upkeep, but if this is the case, then it's important to understand the rights and obligations each party have in respect of it.

Ask your sol to confirm a) do you have the right to use the passageway b) what limits are there on the right to use it c) who's responsible for keeping it in repair d) how are the repair costs apportioned and what remedies are there for non-performance (ie can you go in and do works if the other party refuses to do them). This type of stuff is usually set out in the properties' respective titles so doesn't require the adjoining owner to actually provide info - the seller's solicitor should be on top of this stuff.

how long after a house sale does h.m. govt. update the land registry data ?
or is it done at year end / financial year end ?

Eventually. It’s been mad slow recently. It used to be a couple of weeks after completion, it’s been more like 3 or 4 months at times.

It's the Land Registry itself that updates its records - it depends on which LR office is dealing with it, seems like they've all got massive backlogs so it can take months and months (it also depends when the application to change the register is submitted - it should be done promptly after the relevant registerable event, but solicitors have been known to forget...).

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Phone your lawyer, they should be able to talk you through it. If they can't then sack them and get a decent one.

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They are all lazy bastards until it comes to sticking there hand out. Cunts

maybe I should just be a little patient?

You’re right to be cautious and questioning, solicitors can miss things, but I’d say yes- be patient. Wait until you have the report through, read it carefully and make a list of anything that’s not in there. It may [should] be that your solicitor is just as thorough as you are and will have already sought clarification on everything.

They will also tell you when it’s sensible to accept ‘don’t know’ as an answer, there are usually a few ‘don’t knows’ on properties - boundary ownership, when extensions were built, whether there’s any asbestos, all sorts - you’ll usually have to accept a ‘don’t know’ or two or take out an insurance policy of some sort to cover what might happen if a ‘don’t know’ becomes a problem.

We have a side passage like that. The boundary runs right down the middle and each of us has right of access (may not be the correct term). I'm sure every situation is different though

The neighbours' response would get my suspicions rising just because they sound like small-minded, precious people that think they can gradually take over rights relating the passage by paying all costs relating to it.

We also have a boundary like that (although we are a terrace and the houses connect over the passageway) - our house 'owns' the passageway and we are solely responsible for maintenance; neighbours have access rights (although in practice never use them). All made explicit in the deeds.

Our place in SE23 has a side access which was registered in the names of some untraceable people with an address in North London. They were possibly the successors to the owner of the land when the area was developed in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was one of many such alleys in the area which would have been used for delivering coal, but most have been blocked off by people extending their gardens. We accepted the uncertainty on the basis that there was probably sufficient history of use for us to rely on. I ended up doing most of the bramble control. But yes, see what the solicitor comes up with, and be ready to accept some uncertainty.

Our current place has an even worse issue - our title stops at the threshold of our front door and “our” front yard is unregistered.

Does that mean it's commons land?

I'm bringing my sheep?