A family has been left unable to sell their home after finding that a corner of the living room and part of the garden don't belong to them. Linda Hoffman, 73, has been trying to sell her home for two years but has been locked in a dispute instead.
Linda and her husband bought a section of land from their neighbours in 2000 with plans to build their own property, which they did in 2003. Then in March 2021 they found part of the land doesn't actually belong to them. The family is still struggling for answers over who actually owns the land, reports NottinghamshireLive.
Linda's son, Bryn said his mum started looking to move when his dad died in April 2020. He said: "A bungalow came up and it was stunning, perfect location and round the corner from me. We put the house on the market and got a buyer, and it was all going through.
"Then it popped up through their solicitors that there's a section of the land that doesn't belong to my parents which is the bank next to the road, the footpath down the side of the house to the bridge and the very edge of the house, the corner of the living room basically. Nobody knew, my mum didn't know and my dad isn't there to ask."
Linda said: "Thankfully I’m a strong person but it’s just draining. I was ringing the land registry day for a month and every time I spoke to someone I got a different story.
"Why couldn’t they have just said they own it and this is how much they want for it. I’ve had to pay a lot of money for a solicitor."
The family thinks market value for the piece of land disputed is £1,000.
Part of the garden and corner of living room doesn't belong to them (Image: Nottingham Post/Marie Wilson.)
Bryn said: "Last week the buyers understandably said they can't wait any longer and have pulled out, so that's where we are."
Bryn added: "It's just been shocking, and an abysmal experience. There's no reason that this couldn't have been resolved before this." A spokesperson for His Majesty's Land Registry said: "In 2021-22, we saw an extremely high level of property transactions as the property market bounced back after Covid-19 restrictions and stamp duty and land transaction tax holidays fuelled demand.
"HM Land Registry received around 1.8 million more service requests in 2021 than in 2019. That increase did affect our processing times, including the time taken to initially consider Mrs Hoffman’s application. We have apologised to Mrs Hoffman previously and do not hesitate to repeat that apology.
"HMLR cannot proceed with an application until it complies with the relevant statutory formalities. Unfortunately, the initial delays were exacerbated by defects in the applications originally lodged on behalf of Mrs Hoffman. These meant we had to cancel some of the applications and request replacements."
They continued: "The replacement applications have since been submitted and considered by HMLR. Mrs Hoffman’s applications involve adverse possession, which is a highly technical area of law. Consequently, once the applications are in order, HMLR is bound by certain statutory timeframes.
"We cannot deviate from these. We have also received an objection to one of the applications. When we receive such an objection, we cannot complete the application until the dispute has been resolved."
