Whilst dealings with your property can be stressful, the processes involved can be made simpler if your property is already registered at the Land Registry. If you are anticipating selling your property or land or any other dealing with the property, for example, an equity release or grant of an easement, then the legal processes involved will be much simpler if your property is already registered at the Land Registry and has its own separate registered title register and title plan.
It is therefore recommended that you instruct a solicitor to deal with making the first registration application to the Land Registry to ensure that the legal processes run as smoothly as possible.
Some of the most significant reasons for registering your property or land are set out below:
- Efficient legal process: If your property or land is not registered then your solicitor will be required to deduce title to the solicitor who is acting on the other side of the transaction. For these purposes you will be required to provide the title deeds that you have in your possession or control going back a minimum of 15 years and you will need to confirm to your knowledge whether the property benefits from any other rights or interests. The solicitor acting for the purchaser will then need to conduct a thorough review of the title deeds and if there are any missing documents then you will be required to account for those and if necessary provide a statement of truth. This obviously takes more time than if the property was already registered.
- Makes it clear that you are the legal owner: a benefit of registering property or land is that anyone looking at the property’s title register will see who is the registered legal owner. If the property is not registered then no-one can find out who is the legal owner. This increases the likelihood that the property could be fraudulently sold. For example, if you own some bare land and there is nothing obvious to suggest that it is owned by you then someone else could fraudulently try to sell it. The risk of this can be avoided by applying to register the land or property. Once registered, anyone looking at the title register will immediately see who the legal owner is.
- Clear rights and covenants: another benefit of registering property or land is that the title register will set out all of the rights and easements that the property benefits from and the covenants that the property is subject to. If you hold boxes of title deeds then your solicitor will filter through these to find the root of title documents going back 15 years and will provide the relevant title deeds to the Land Registry to apply for first registration. The obvious benefit of applying to register your property before commencing any dealings with it is that this registration process will have already been completed and all of the rights and covenants will be clearly set out on the title register.
Due to backlogs at the Land Registry it is currently taking approximately 12 months for the Land Registry to process applications for first registrations. It is possible however to request that applications are expedited if the delays would cause problems not related to a land transaction or put a property sale or any kind of property transaction at risk, for example, a refinancing deal or development. Once the expedition request has been approved, the Land Registry aim to process the application within 10 working days subject to any requisitions that are raised.
If you are concerned that you own property or land however that you don’t know where the title deeds are, then do not panic. We would request that you collate as much information as you are able to about your ownership of the property and the whereabouts of the deeds when you last saw them and we will then be able to prepare a statement of truth in relation to the lost or missing title deeds for your approval which can be provided to the Land Registry in support of an application to register the property.
A final thought is that registering your property makes it easier for those to deal with your estate following death. There is really no time like the present to register your property or land. For further information please speak to one of our specialist lawyers by telephone on 0191 384 2441 and ask to speak with a member of our Commercial Property team.
This article is for general information only. It does not and is not intended to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published and we would always recommend that you seek specific advice on any legal issue.
