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Deeds Registration

More than 30 per cent of land in England and Wales is still owned by people who have their ownership recorded by a multitude of historical deeds that they may store privately, potentially exposing them to the risk of theft, destruction or loss.

The remaining 70 per cent of land belongs to people who have 'registered' their deeds with the Land Registry, and which have now been replaced by computerised records held centrally at the Land Registry, and whose records and the accuracy of which are guaranteed by the Government.

You can immediately see the attraction of Registration.

Unregistered land is gradually being replaced by registration, as it is now compulsory to register land if it is sold, transferred into different names, leased (for over 7 years) or mortgaged.  However, Voluntary Registration has numerous benefits:

• Registration means there is a central Government backed record of your deeds which you can never 'lose' as you can with unregistered deeds.
• Chancel Repair liability will not bind Registered Land if it is not recorded against the title by October 2013.
• Registration helps to protect land from encroachment by neighbours.
• It enables you to identify your landholdings and simplify your deeds - making ongoing management easier.
• It provides simpler access to your land ownership details in the future - this is useful when it comes to selling or should anyone else make a claim.
• We anticipate over the next few years the Government will introduce 'electronic conveyancing' and this will only be possible with registered land. Being unregistered will cause delay.
• It consolidates and stores relevant information in one place.
• Potential buyers increasingly expect land to be registered before buying.
• Even if you have lost your unregistered deeds or have difficulty proving your land ownership, you may still be able to register your land.
• It incurs a one-off cost that brings savings in the longer-term.
• There is a 25 per cent fee discount for all voluntary registration applications.
• It is not as expensive as clients may think. The fee is based on the value of land, so the cost could range from as little as £60 for land worth up to £50.000 to £690 for land worth over £1 million.
• Land Registry aim to make the process of voluntary registration as straightforward as possible.

So keen are the Land Registry to encourage people to register their property that they offer a reduced fee for Voluntary Registrations.

If this would be of interest then the Land Registry charge a fee based on the value of the property:

Land Registry Fees

Our charges for advising and arranging the Registration will be agreed at the start, but are typically £250 plus VAT.