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Registering title to land and obtaining details of individual properties
The aim of registering title to land is to create and maintain a register of landowners whose title is guaranteed by the state. Basically making the transfer and mortgaging of land easier. Registration is compulsory following the sale, assent or mortgage of land.
What is a registered title?
A registered title is the legal evidence of title, which has been registered at the Land Registry. Registered title provides an up-to-date official record of the legal ownership and certain matters relating to the property or piece of land in question.
Advantages of registering land
- legal title is guaranteed
- an accurate plan of the extent of ownership is created
- an up-to-date public record of ownership is created
- rights of way are clearly identified
- covenants and mortgages are recorded
- risk of fraud is greatly reduced
- simple forms replace complicated deeds
- repeated examination of title deeds is unnecessary
- disputes can be resolved more easily
What is the Land Register?
The Land Register is a record of all land registrations in England and Wales. Each register of title has its own number (the title number) and is split into three parts:
- the property register describes the property
- the proprietorship (ownership) register records who owns the property
- the charges register gives details of things like mortgages or rights that may affect the property adversely
The Land Registry also produces a title plan, showing the location and extent of the property. The plan does not normally show who owns the boundary features.
Can I get information on individual properties from the Land Register?
Yes, you can obtain details of individual properties in England and Wales from the Land Register Online website of over 19 million registered records for a small fee, payable by credit or debit card. These represent the majority of English and Welsh properties. It does not provide details of any that are not registered. You can also contact the Land Register local offices by telephone and fax.
The Register information will generally include:
- a description of the property
- who owns it
- mortgage lender (if any)
- price stated (if registered since 1 April 2000)
- rights of way (not public rights of way) or other rights affecting the property
- restrictions or other conditions
Why is this information useful to me?
Typically, you...
- want to look at the register and/or title plan of a property you own
- want to find out who owns a specific property
- want to discover the extent of a property
- are interested in buying an unoccupied property you have noticed and wish to approach the owner
- lease or rent a property and need to contact the landlord
Information on house prices
The Land Registry Residential Property Price Report, issued quarterly free of charge, provides information on average house prices. The report contains average prices, by county, for four housing categories; detached, semi-detached, terraced and flat/maisonettes. The information is drawn from the large numbers of residential housing transactions lodged at the Land Registry.
The information is available by accessing the Land Registry website but further information can be obtained from the Property Information Centre (telephone 0151 473 6010 and email: enquiries.pic@landreg.gov.uk).
What about unregistered land?
The owner of unregistered land will have a bundle of deeds, which form a record of previous sales, mortgages and other dealings with the land. However, if the land is mortgaged, the lender normally holds the deeds as security for their loan. There is usually no public record of the information contained in the deeds.
However, in Middlesex and the Yorkshire Ridings, Deeds Registries were set up prior to land registration. These registries kept records of certain land transactions, but the deeds were registered against the names of the people involved, rather than by address. To make a search of a Deeds Registry you need to know the name of a previous or current owner of the property.
The Land Charges Department maintains a record of restrictive covenants, rights and mortgages relating to unregistered land. These are registered against the name of the land owner at the time the entry was made, rather than against the land or property. For example, if you want to find out about a restrictive covenant registered before you bought your property, you need to search against the name of the owner at the time the covenant was registered.
Local land charges - personal search
You can contact your local authority and carry out a search of the local land charges register. Anyone can request a search and there may be a fee attached to this service.
The following link(s) will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website where you can find out more.
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