Selling Part of your Garden

Selling Part of your Garden

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Overview

One of the most common reasons people sell off parcels of land is to allow for further property development. The owner of a house with a large garden may desire to sell part of their garden with planning consent. The mechanics of obtaining and updating the nessesary Land Registry documents are described in this article.

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Title Register and Title Plan

You, and particularly your solicitor and surveyor, will need to see your Title Register and Title Plan. These documents are the source of information your solicitor will need for the documents he will need to prepare, and your surveyor for the plan he will need to prepare.

Of particular interest to your surveyor and solicitor will be the areas of land to be shared, and the areas being sold that you will still require access to, as well as areas of land not be sold that your neighbour will require access to. In other words, your solicitor will need to create rights of way and rights of access, i.e. easements. Your surveyor will need to draw his plans so as to clearly identify any rights of way and shared areas.

Rights of Way may be for the passage of a vehicle or by foot and bicycle only. Boundaries that may require maintenance or repair need to be accessible and likewise any shared water pipes, etc.

Restrictive Covenants are also likely to be required, e.g. a covenant to maintain the gardens in a clean and tidy state, or a covenant not to build an extension to the property that would encroach on the enjoyment by you of your own property, as where your view would be obstructed or the light diminished.

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The New Plan

You should instruct a chartered surveyor to prepare a plan in Land Registry format, that is to say, in a format that can be used by the Land Registry to clearly identify the property and its curtilage, and areas of the land affected by easements and covenants and shared areas such as drives. It would be wise to show ownership of boundaries by T and H marks, as the Land Registry will usually copy them into the Title Plan if the surveyor’s deed includes them, i.e. those boundaries between your property and the new property. This may alleviate any boundary issues that could arise in the future.

To obtain precise details of the Land Registry’s requirements for drafting the plan your surveyor should have regard to Supplement 2 of the Land Registry Practice Guide 40.

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Registration of Your New Title

In order to divide the Title of your property to create another Title you will need the consent of the Land Registry, who will have regard to the purpose of the application. If you have already obtained planning consent for the new building the Land Registry will normally consent. Your solicitor will lodge an application to register the new Title and will send them the surveyor’s plan. He will also prepare a draft Transfer Deed containing details of any easements and covenants.

Once the Land Registry are satisfied with the documents they will prepare a new Title. Your existing Tile will be changed by noting the sale off and the property description will refer to the removed area as appearing on the Title Plan edged with a green line and a new Title Number, printed in green. The Title Registers and Title Plans for each property will include the new easements and covenants, and any other appropriate detail specified in the Transfer Deed.

The new land will have a new Title Register and Title Plan with its own unique Title Number. The Register will contain all the appropriate details for the easements and covenants also.