Trustee in bankruptcy vendor

The problem

A recent development in land registration law is that a trustee in bankruptcy can now apply unilaterally to become registered as proprietor of a land interest owned by the bankrupt. In this case, the trustee had done just that because the bankrupt was not co-operating. The problem then was that there was a distinct lack of documentation.

The solution

We overcame this by obtaining office copies from the Land Registry and, where these were not available, we obtained indemnity insurance against the possibility of there being any restrictive covenants in missing documents. We completed on the portfolio which comprised some 200 houses all subject to 999 year leases with individual ground rents varying between £3 and £40 p.a.