FTB purchase delayed by Declaration of Trust restriction — normal or red flag?
FTB here and currently very anxious/stressed in the final stages of our purchase 😅 Would really appreciate some opinions from people who have gone through something similar.
We’re buying a freehold house (no chain). Offer accepted in early March. Mortgage approved, surveys done, asbestos survey came back fine, contracts signed, searches completed, etc. Overall the transaction has actually been quite smooth.
For the last couple of weeks, our solicitor kept saying there was “one outstanding enquiry” from the seller side. We finally found out what it is:
There’s a restriction on the title related to a Declaration of Trust from 2016. The seller’s solicitors are waiting for an undertaking/certificate from “Countrywide Tax & Trust Corporation Ltd” confirming the sale complies with the trust arrangement before they can proceed.
This is the wording:
“RESTRICTION: No disposition by the proprietors of the registered estate is to be registered unless one or more of them makes a statutory declaration or statement of truth, or their conveyancer gives a certificate, that the disposition is in accordance with a declaration of trust…”
Our solicitor doesn’t seem alarmed and keeps talking about agreeing exchange/completion dates once this is resolved. Estate agents are also chasing actively and speaking as if we’re in the final stages.
We were hoping for exchange/completion at the end of May, but now I’m panicking a bit because:
- today is 21st May
- we still don’t have dates
- and I have a work trip from 12–22 June, so timing is becoming stressful.
Has anyone dealt with this type of trust restriction before?
How long did it actually take to resolve?
Does this sound like a normal admin delay or something that could seriously derail the purchase?
Trying to stay calm but UK conveyancing is honestly brutal 😭