Teresa Scoular

Teresa has experience of the majority of residential property transactions but particularly unregistered property, reconstitution / possessory titles and new leases / lease extensions and deeds of variation.

She particularly enjoys dealing with auction properties and complex transfers of part as well as managing the complexities around leasehold properties and extending the leases.

Notable Residential Property cases

• Auction - Sales & Purchase
  

  Acting for a client following the purchase of a property at auction. This typically happens where the title has not been checked by a conveyancer prior to the auction. The transfer purporting to transfer title to the seller was only partially completed, undated and the signatures to the deed unwitnessed. Luckily, in this case the sellers were helpful and provided us with Statutory Declarations to assist with our registration, but this is not always the case.

• Transfers of Part
  

  Teresa assisted a client in a complex transfer of part involving the splitting up of a large farm consisting of a farmhouse and four cottages with shared access, sewerage treatment plant and other facilities.

• Deed of Variation
  

  Acting for a client in the transfer of a patio area from the freeholder to the leaseholder as this area was being used solely by leaseholder but not included within their lease, therefore meaning that in effect, anybody could have used it as part of the communal grounds.

• Lease Extensions
  

  Acting for a client with the benefit of a leasehold title. Teresa achieved a good outcome to their lease extension where notice had to be served, to ensure that they maintained a good and mortgageable title. Notice was served offering to pay a premium of £12,500; the freeholder issued a counter notice for £46,000 and following negotiations by the valuers a figure of £17,000 was eventually agreed.

• New Lease
  

  Acting for the landlord to prepare and register new leases for an old freehold property which had been converted into five flats. The flats were all previously freehold with very little in the way of rights or reservations. These are much more saleable as freehold flats are very rarely acceptable to lenders.

• Re-constitution of Titles / Possessory Title Applications
  

  Teresa assisted the executors of an estate with a re-constitution of title following the death of the owner of the property. The property had been left to his nieces who were unable to locate the unregistered title documents. Making enquiries of all relevant parties to ensure that the Deeds were not held by them including previous solicitors and mortgagees. Completing forms for the Land Registry’s consideration and liaising with them to issue new title documents.

• Unregistered Properties
  

  It is essential to ensure that the full title can be produced as there are often documents missing which have been lost or mislaid over the years. Teresa has completed many sales and purchases of unregistered properties over the years although Cornwall is one of the few places where there is still quite a lot of unregistered property as it tends to have been passed down through the family.