Sukhjit Bains has stopped responding to Birmingham City Council after initially agreeing to return a primary school he accidentally acquired through a decade-old paperwork blunder.
Bains, a care home operator, purchased a three-bedroom house at auction in 2013 for £395,000 through his company NH Care Limited. The property, originally built as a cottage for the school caretaker, was sold by Birmingham City Council. Because both structures shared a single land registry number, a solicitor’s use of a TR1 transfer form swept the entire George Dixon Primary School into the deal without anyone catching the error.
The mistake survived two rounds of professional review. Bains’s solicitor drafted the TR1 form, and council conveyancers approved it, making Bains the legal owner of both the cottage and the school. A legal expert who later examined the file said it was “the most incredible legal cock-up” they had encountered in 40 years of practice.
The extraordinary oversight went unnoticed for 10 years. The truth surfaced only when the school applied for academy status, triggering a document review that forced the council to make an awkward phone call to Bains. He reportedly learned at that moment that he had been the unwitting owner of the institution the entire time.
Bains initially agreed to hand the school back. Since then, he has gone silent.
Council officers have tried letters, phone calls, and in-person visits to his office. All failed. He has also refused to sign return paperwork sent to him.
As the registered legal owner, Bains holds significant leverage over the property. He could theoretically demand rent from the council for school use, attempt eviction, or even pursue demolition, though the council’s court filings note that both the school and its playing fields cannot be sold without permission from the Secretary of State.
The council, which declared bankruptcy in 2023, has now launched High Court proceedings in London against Bains and his lender, Lloyds Bank. The suit formally demands return of the school and asserts that the error was mutual in origin.
A Birmingham City 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. We remain committed to safeguarding public assets and acting in the best interests of residents, pupils and the school community.”
Parents of the more than 300 pupils at George Dixon Primary School are believed to have been unaware of the ownership chaos behind the institution’s operations.