Is your property registered with the Land Registry?

The Land Registry was created in 1862 to record property ownership in England and Wales, although initially on the basis of voluntary registration. However, ‘compulsory registration’ was first introduced in 1925 and gradually phased in nationally on an area-by-area basis until 1990.

Now any post-1990 sale, purchase, transfer or charge of land need to be registered at the Land Registry. This has led to a natural growth of the Land Registry, however substantial numbers of property remain unregistered. This is particularly the case in areas where ‘compulsory registration’ is a more recent phenomenon. North Yorkshire is such an area, as ‘compulsory registration’ was only introduced here as late as 1st December 1988!

Any sale, purchase, transfer or charge of land need to be registered at the Land Registry.

What you may not know is if you or your family purchased your property before 1990, and are mortgage-free, your property might not be registered.

You can check if your property is officially registered by accessing your title deeds. Can you see a beige Land Certificate or a blue Charge Certificate? If yes, your property holds a title number on the Land Register at the Land Registry, and you’re covered. If not, keep reading.

We can act on your behalf

You can engage our highly experienced team early to act on your behalf, or you can start the process by searching for land and property information on the UK government website here: https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/search/

The advantages of land registration

The registration of a property supports home and property ownership and the secured credit market. It offers many advantages, including: –

providing secure state-backed registration, giving greater security of title. Your ownership is now evidenced and provable by state-backed records, not by title deeds that can be destroyed
providing greater protection against the possibility of losing title by adverse possession. A neighbour can sometimes acquire registered title to a portion of your unregistered property, causing difficulties in any subsequent sale. This possibility can be avoided if your property is already registered
indemnifying the registered proprietors against any loss if they are deprived of their state-backed title
setting out or referring in the land registry entry all the rights that benefit and affect the property (other than certain overriding interests). This can make a title much simpler and easier to understand and therefore easier to sell
showing the general extent of the land in each title by means of an ordinance survey title plan
ensuring that capital can circulate freely in the economy by making land readily available as security
making large holdings of land and portfolios of charges readily marketable.

As you can see, there are many benefits to official registration. Indeed, it is normally only possible to remortgage registered land.

The Practice Guide 1: First Registrations on the GOV.UK website here provides comprehensive guidance on registering land for the first time with HM Land Registry in the UK. Key points covered in their guide include:

Purpose of First Registration
Who Needs to Register
Types of Estates
Application Process
Supporting Documents
Types of Evidence
Special Circumstances
Costs and Fees
Post-Registration.

Please note that the Land Registry is presently suffering from considerable backlogs in processing applications for first registration.

We’re seeing processing times exceed 24 months however, we’ve successfully expedited registrations for proposed sales, remortgages and even for divorce proceedings.

Next steps

If you can’t find your title deeds or the Land Certificate or Charge Certificate, start this process sooner rather than later. Check the property’s title on the Land Registry website for as little as £3.00.

Then if you have any questions or want us to register your property on your behalf, we’re here to help. Call Richard Storey, partner at Hutchinson & Buchanan on 01765 602156 or email mail@hb-law.co.uk.

Address

77 North Street
Ripon
North Yorkshire HG4 1DP

Email

mail@hb-law.co.uk

Phone

01765 602156

Fax

01765 690018