Unregistered Land
Unregistered land does not mean that the land is not owned, it just means that the details of ownership of the land are not centrally recorded at the Land Registry and the only evidence of ownership is the old deeds/documents.
The majority of land in England and Wales is now registered at the Land Registry but approximately 15% remains unregistered, much of this being older, large rural estates or land that hasn’t changed hands since registration became compulsory.
Registration became compulsory on different dates around the country (for example, compulsory registration came into effect on 01 July 1902 in the City of London, but 01 May 1974 in Exeter) but all changes of ownership, mortgages and grants of leases have triggered compulsory first registration since 01 December 1990.
We are still regularly seeing unregistered properties come across our desks since we act for a number of clients across the country who have lived in their family homes for 40-50 years and therefore their property has not changed hands since registration became compulsory.
It is also possible for clients to instruct us to voluntarily register their property either because they are planning to sell or mortgage their property and want to get the registration process done to make the eventual conveyancing quicker and easier, or because having an unregistered property means that the only proof of ownership that they have is the physical unregistered deeds which may be held with a solicitors’ firm, a bank or in the client’s own home. This can lead to unregistered properties being at higher risk of fraudulent action, since there is no central registration record to check, as well as the risk of the physical deeds being lost, damaged or destroyed which can cause issues with evidencing a client’s ownership of their property.
Process of registration
In order to be registered as the owner of the property, you must be able to show at least 15 years ‘good root of title’ such as a conveyance or transfer, together with all subsequent documents since that date. There also needs to be a clear plan (either in the 15 year good root of title document or in an earlier document) or an accurate plan prepared by a surveyor complying with the Land Registry’s requirements so that the Land Registry can accurately plot the property.
The application proceeds by way of an FR1 form. The Land Registry generally does not return original documents, so certified copies must be kept on file in case any documents are lost at/en route to the Land Registry.
Lost title deeds
If title deeds cannot be located, it may be possible to reconstitute the title and so still apply for registration, but this is detailed work and advice would be given on a case by case basis, so please contact us to discuss this if this is an area of concern.
