Land Registry And Ownership: Is your land registered?

According to the Land Registry's latest report more than 15% of land in England and Wales is currently unregistered.

Compulsory registration of all land purchased in England and Wales with the Land Registry came into force in the early 1990s with more triggering events being added in 2003. So if your property has not changed hands or been affected by one of the other triggering events (such as a Mortgage being taken over the property) then it could remain unregistered. The land registry can be publicly accessed for free to find basic information about land including any restrictive covenenants currently in place, property description and property address. For a small fee further land information can be accessed including, but not limited to, the previous sale price, the current owner as well as details of the specific restrictive ocvenants. 

There are several advantages to registering your property now and if the application is made voluntarily, then the Land Registry reduce the fees, in comparison to those of a compulsory registration. For example a property valued between £100,000 and £200,000 would generally attract a Land Registry Fee of £190. For a voluntary registration this would be reduced to £140.

Further benefits include:

• Reduces time and costs on subsequent dealings with the property
• Does away with the need to store old title deeds as all records are centrally recorded with HM Land Registry
• Alleviates the worry of losing/destroyed title deeds and the expense of trying to reconstitute the title
• The Land Registry guarantees the title and provides a plan showing the extent of your ownership
• Registered land provides better protection from claims for adverse possession (ie squatters trying to take ownership of your land through a long period of use)
• Preparing for administering of an estate/putting matters in order
• The lawyer will review the title and third could reveal any potential defects which could delay or hinder a sale, allowing time to find a resolution/rectify matters if possible.

If you are interested in applying for Voluntary Registration or wish to discuss it further, then please contact the Sampson Coward conveyancing team for a quotation on 01722 410664.