As a hard-nosed businessman, care-home boss Sukhjit Bains was used to driving a tough bargain.
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Bains → use → bargain
But even he cannot have believed the extraordinary deal he unwittingly struck when he bought a three-bedroom house at auction from Birmingham City Council – and got a primary school thrown in for free.
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school → believe → Council
The unexpected bonus came about after his solicitor sent the wrong type of contract when he was finalising the paperwork to confirm the purchase of the property for £395,000.
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he → come → 395,000
It included the school – and was then rubber-stamped by the council's conveyancer, who hadn't noticed the error.
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who → include → error
The astonishing mistake means that in theory Mr Bains, 50, is entitled to evict the teachers and pupils of George Dixon Primary School and sell the site for millions.
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Bains → mean → millions
A legal expert who has examined papers related to the case told the Daily Mail: 'I don't think I've ever come across anything like this in 40 years.
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I → examine → years
It's the most incredible legal cock-up I can recall.'
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I → recall → ?
Mr Bains, who runs a care-provider firm called NH Care Ltd, is thought to have been unaware of the huge property bonus his company had been given when he bought the property at auction in 2013.
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he → run → 2013
He, along with the company's two other directors, found out only when the council contacted him to ask for it back last year.
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council → find → it
In 2013, Sukhjit Bains through his care home company NH Care Ltd, bought a house from Birmingham City Council at auction for £395,000.
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Bains → buy → 395,000
But, in a quite remarkable conveyancing error, included in the sale was George Dixon Primary School
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School → include → sale
The house which Mr Bains bought during the mishap is on Fountain Road in the suburb of Edgbaston, where its rear garden backs on to playing fields at the school.
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garden → buy → school
It was originally built as a cottage for the school's caretaker, which is how the mistake occurred
The mistake came to light a decade later when the school considered applying for academy status.
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school → build → status
When the situation was put to Mr Bains (pictured) he initially agreed to give the school back – but later stopped replying to the council and declined to sign paperwork sent to him
Parents of the 324 children currently studying at George Dixon are believed to remain unaware of the mistake.
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Parents → put → mistake
The city council, which went bankrupt in 2023, has now initiated legal action to get ownership of the school back.
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which → go → school
After the bizarre situation was explained to him, Mr Bains initially agreed to give the school back but subsequently stopped replying to the council and declined to sign any of the papers they sent to him, Birmingham City Council claims.
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Council → explain → him
The council says it has since been unable to contact him by phone or letter and could not track him down in person despite repeatedly turning up at his office.
However, when the Daily Mail approached him this week, he did appear at his door – although he declined to comment on the case.
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he → say → case
Birmingham have now issued proceedings against Mr Bains's company and Lloyds Bank, his lender, at the High Court in London, demanding the formal return of the school.
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Birmingham → issue → school
They have also clarified that neither the school nor its playing fields could be sold without the consent of the Secretary of State.
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school → clarify → State
The house which Mr Bains bought during the mishap is on Fountain Road in the suburb of Edgbaston, with its rear garden backing on to the school's playing fields.
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garden → buy → fields
It was originally built as a cottage for the school's caretaker – which is how the error arose – and was later turned into a family home before the childless couple who owned it left it in their will to Birmingham City Council in the early 1960s.
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who → build → 1960s
It was then converted into a children's home and used by the council in that capacity before it was finally closed and sold to Mr Bains in 2013.
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it → convert → 2013
Strangely though his company has never utilised the property.
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company → utilise → property
A land registry document shows the school and house at the centre of the mix-up in green
The George Dixon Primary School at the centre of the legal mix-up
Despite Mr Bains operating other care homes in Birmingham and Leicester, the house has remained empty and is now boarded up.
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house → show → Birmingham
Neighbours in Fountain Road – where properties sell for up to £500,000 – complain that it has instead become a hub for antisocial behaviour.
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it → sell → behaviour
A neighbour, who has lived on the road since 1954, told the Daily Mail the property had become 'overrun by prostitutes and druggies'.
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property → live → prostitutes
The mistake that led to the case is thought to have come about after Mr Bains's lawyers drafted a contract to be signed by the council but used the wrong form.
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lawyers → lead → form
That was because the school and house are both registered under the same land registry number and the form which was used, a TR1, only transfers all of the property registered under a number.
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which → register → number
Another form, a TP1, should have been used which transfers only a specific portion of a land parcel.
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which → use → parcel
Despite submitting the incorrect form, the council's lawyers didn't notice but signed and executed it, in effect handing Mr Bains ownership of the school for free.
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lawyers → submit → school
The error was only uncovered over a decade later on April 12, 2024, when the school was looking into becoming an academy – and learned that they didn't actually own the building.
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they → uncover → building
Birmingham, which was run by Labour for 16 years until a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens and Independents took over control earlier this year, has faced intense criticism for perceived mismanagement in recent years particularly over bin strikes and its dire finances.
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coalition → run → strikes
It only finally balanced its books this year.
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It → balance → books
Mr Bains's company has also faced criticism.
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company → face → criticism
Care home inspectors found residents with learning difficulties at one NH Care home had been subjected to 'abusive behaviour and threats'.
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residents → find → behaviour
The Care Quality Commission found physical, verbal and emotional abuse were 'commonplace' at Summerfield House in Birmingham in 2021.
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abuse → find → 2021
The primary school has also been strongly criticised recently.
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school → criticise → ?
It has 324 pupils despite only having capacity for 300, an Ofsted report from February said.
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report → have → February
The inspection found that it needed attention and urgent improvement and a large proportion of disadvantaged pupils did not achieve well and were particularly weak in reading, writing and maths while many children do not attend regularly and many remain unsure about British values.
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many → find → values
A spokesman for Birmingham said of the school fiasco: 'The council is pursuing the appropriate legal process to rectify the position.
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council → say → position
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
