Council sold a primary school by mistake in 2013 house sale

Birmingham City Council has gone to the High Court to try to get back a primary school that it sold by mistake 13 years ago.

The case involves George Dixon Primary School in Edgbaston. According to reports, the school was included in the paperwork when the council sold a three-bedroom house on Fountain Road in 2013.

How it happened

As first reported by the Daily Mail, Sukhjit Bains, the boss of NH Care Ltd, bought the house from the council for £395,000. The house had been built for the school's caretaker, and its rear garden backs onto the school playing fields.

The error reportedly happened after the buyer's solicitor sent the wrong type of contract when the sale was being finalised. The inclusion of the school was not noticed when the paperwork was signed off by the council's conveyancer.

The house on Fountain Road is said to have stood empty since it was bought. It is claimed that Mr Bains only found out about the mistake when the council contacted him last year to ask for the school to be legally handed back.

The legal action

The council has now started proceedings in the High Court. It claims that Mr Bains agreed to return the school but has since stopped replying to messages and has declined to sign the papers sent to him.

Birmingham Live said it had approached Mr Bains for comment.

A council spokesperson said: "Birmingham City Council can confirm that an issue has been identified in historic documentation relating to a property transaction in 2013. 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," the spokesperson added. "We remain committed to safeguarding public assets and acting in the best interests of residents, pupils and the school community."

What it means for the school

Nothing in the reports suggests that pupils or staff have been affected, and the school continues to operate. The dispute is about who holds the legal title to the land and buildings, and the council's application asks the court to put the ownership right.

How land is registered

When a property is sold in England and Wales, the transfer is recorded at HM Land Registry, which keeps the official record of who owns what. A transfer that includes more land than was intended can be corrected, either by agreement between the parties or, where they cannot agree, by a court order. That is why the council has turned to the High Court after saying it could not get the papers signed.

A council under scrutiny

The case comes at a sensitive time for the council, which has been selling land and buildings to help repair its finances since it issued a section 114 notice in 2023, and whose handling of public assets has been under close scrutiny ever since. A mistake of this kind is likely to raise questions about how property sales were checked in the past.

The school takes its name from George Dixon, a Victorian Mayor of Birmingham and MP who campaigned for free, compulsory education for all children.