Birmingham council mistakenly sells primary school along with home for £395,000

A man who bought a house from the council for £395,000 was astounded when he got an unexpected two-for-one deal.

Businessman Sukhjit Bains purchased the three-bed home at auction from Birmingham City Council.

But as the purchase was being finalised, Mr Bains’ solicitor accidentally sent him the wrong type of paperwork and the council’s conveyancer mistakenly rubber-stamped documents which also handed over ownership of George Dixon Primary School.

In theory, this means Mr Bains, 50, would be entitled to kick out teachers and pupils, knock down the school, or sell it on for millions, reports the Daily Mail.

Mr Bains runs the care provider firm NH Care Ltd, and is not thought to have been aware of the error when he bought the house back in 2013.

He and the company’s other two directors only found out what had happened last year, when the council contacted him and asked for the school back.

A solicitor for Mr Bains said the 2013 property transfer was to NH Care, not to him as an individual.

Parents of the school’s 324 pupils are also not thought to have been aware of what happened.

The city council has now initiated legal action to regain ownership of the school.

According to the council, Mr Bains initially agreed to give the school back but eventually stopped replying to correspondence and declined to sign paperwork.

It claims it has been unable to contact him by phone or letter and, despite making repeated visits to his office, could not find him to discuss the matter in person.

He did open his door to Daily Mail reporters when they visited him, but declined to comment on the issue.

Birmingham City Council has now launched proceedings against Mr Bains’ company and his lender, Lloyds Bank, at the High Court in London.

It is thought the mix-up occurred because the house and the school are both registered under the same land registry number, with the property having previously been a caretaker’s cottage that backs onto the school grounds.

The form used is known as a TR1 and transfers all of the property registered under a number. 

Instead, a TP1, which only transfers a specific part of a land parcel, should have been used.

But the council said that neither the school nor its playing fields could be sold without the consent of the Secretary of State.

The mistake was only discovered on April 12, 2024, when the school was looking at becoming an academy.

It was then that it realised it didn’t actually own the building.

The house that Mr Bains did purchase has reportedly remained empty since his purchase and has now been boarded up.

A spokesman for Birmingham Council said: ‘The council is pursuing the appropriate legal process to rectify the position. As the matter is currently the subject of ongoing legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.’

WTX has contacted Lloyds Bank and Mr Bain’s solicitor for comment.