In a 2013 auction, Birmingham City Council accepted £395,000 for a three‑bedroom former caretaker's house on Fountain Road, a property adjacent to the playing fields of George Dixon Primary School. The house, built in 1978, sat empty after the sale while the school continued to serve 324 pupils.
The error stemmed from a mis‑issued TR1 form that transferred the entire registered title—house and school—rather than a TP1 that would have limited the sale to the property alone. NH Care Ltd, a company linked to businessman Sukhjit Bains, signed the deed without realizing that the school was part of the title.
On 12 April 2024, the school applied to convert to academy status and discovered the council no longer owned the site. Bains and the company’s directors were unaware of the mistake until the council notified them. The council then approached NH Care for a remedy, but the company failed to respond.
The council argues the original contract covered only the house, that the mistake was mutual, and that selling school land requires Secretary of State consent—an approval that was never obtained. It has therefore lodged High Court proceedings in London against NH Care Ltd and Lloyds Bank, its lender.
George Dixon Primary remains open, carrying its 324 pupils through the dispute, while the former caretaker's house stands vacant. The High Court case is pending, with the court to decide whether the council can reclaim the school and correct the register.