by John Pryer
As from December 3 1990, by virtue of the implementation of the Land Registration Act 1988, the register of title in England and Wales will become open to inspection by the public, which means that, from that date, anybody can obtain information, which is held on the register, of a registered title. Prior to that date, the general rule was that only registered owners, or persons with the owner’s consent, could inspect the register.
The principal provisions of the Land Registration Act 1988 are:
Any person may, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed and on payment of any fee payable, inspect and make copies of and extracts from —
(a) entries on the register, and
(b) documents referred to in the register which are in the custody of the registrar (other than leases or charges or copies of leases or charges).
The Land Registration (Open Register) Rules 1990 provide the necessary framework to give effect to the Act. In particular, they prescribe the forms that must be used in the case of applications:
(1) to inspect and to obtain copies of the register, title plan or for a certificate of inspection of the title plan;
(2) to obtain copies of any documents referred to in the register;
(3) for personal inspection of the register, title plan or documents referred to in the register.
The opening of the register is a momentous event ending, at least as far as registered land is concerned, the privacy of conveyancing records which has prevailed since the later Middle Ages. It does not mean, however, that the Registry is in a position to provide information about every aspect of a given property. Intending applicants must be aware of a number of important factors:
(1) The primary purpose of land registration has always been, and will continue to be, to create and maintain a register of land owners whose title is guaranteed by the state and, thus, to simplify the sale and mortgage of such land.
(2) The nature of the information held by the Registry:
(i) The register identifies the geographical location and extent of the registered property by means of a short verbal description (usually the address) and by reference to an official plan which is prepared for each title. It may also give particulars of any rights that benefit the land, for example, a right of way over adjoining land. In the case of a leasehold title, it gives brief details of the lease. The official plan is based on the large-scale maps of the Ordnance Survey.
(ii) It also gives the name and address of the legal owner and shows whether there are any restrictions on his power to sell, mortgage or otherwise deal with the land. The availability of this information to the public generally is, of course, the most significant feature of the opening of the register.
(iii) It contains details of registered mortgages and notice of other financial burdens secured on the property. It also gives notice of other rights and interests to which the property is subject, such as leases, rights of way or restrictive covenants.
(3) There are 18 district land registries in England and Wales and enquiries and applications should be addressed to the district land registry serving the area in which the property concerned is situated. A list of the district land registries, their addresses and telephone numbers and the areas they currently serve, is available from any land registry office free of charge.
Anyone wishing to obtain the sort of information that the Registry can provide will first have to be certain that the land in which he is interested is, in fact, registered. The Land Registry holds approximately 13m registers of properties in England and Wales but it is estimated that there are, at least, a further 9m properties which are not yet registered. Thus, there is a strong possibility that a given piece of land is not registered.
To find out whether land is registered, a search of the Registry’s Public Index Map, addressed to the appropriate district land registry, is required. The Public Index Map consists of a series of maps covering the whole of England and Wales on which is shown the extent of land in every registered title. An application to inspect the Index Map must be made in Land Registry form 96. In some instances, for example, where information is required in respect of land situated in a rural area, it may be necessary for a plan to be supplied by the applicant to enable the precise whereabouts of the land on the Public Index Map to be established.
Once it is established that the land is registered, the best and most convenient method of obtaining information from the Registry is to apply by post in Land Registry form 109 for a copy of the register entries and, if required, for a copy of the title plan. One form is required for each registered title to be inspected. Thereafter, if the copy of the register supplied by the Registry reveals the existence of documents referred to in the register, then application has to be made in form 110.
While application by post should be regarded as the normal method, personal inspection of a register can be made by completing a Land Registry form 111 and by visiting the appropriate district land registry. One form is required for each title to be inspected. At least four days’ notice of an intention to make a personal inspection should be given to the district land registry concerned. Without such notice (which may be given by telephone), there is a risk that the register might not be immediately available. Such inspections may be made between 10 am and 4 pm (Mondays to Fridays).
A great deal of information will be made available but those who make use of this new service should bear in mind the following:
(1) There are many matters which relate to land and property for which the Land Registry is not responsible and for which it does not hold records. Among these are:
(i) Land or property values.
(ii) Matters relating to planning permission, compulsory purchase, land redevelopment, road charges, public health charges, building lines or tree conservation. Such matters are recorded as local land charges and are held by the local authority.
(iii) Land held under tenancy agreements or under leases for a term of 21 years or less.
(iv) Matters relating to the community charge.
(2) Among documents which are not, normally, held by the Land Registry are:
(i) Title deeds dated prior to the date of first registration of the property because, at the time when a property is first registered with the Land Registry, the title deeds then existing are lodged at the Registry but, after registration has been completed, they are returned to the applicants or to their solicitors.
(ii) Copies of deeds not referred to in the register.
(iii) Court orders.
(iv) Birth, marriage or death certificates.
(v) Grants of probate or letters of administration.
Where, exceptionally, any of these documents are held in the Registry, they would be available for inspection only if they were referred to in the register. It should also be noted that, while the Registry normally holds copies of leases and of mortgages, section 112(1)(b) of the Land Registration Act 1925, as amended by the 1988 Act, quoted above expressly provides that the inspection of the register does not extend to these documents.
The Land Registration Fees (No 2) Order 1990 comes into force on the same day as the Land Registration Act 1988. The fees payable for the services described above are as follows:
(a) inspection of the Public Index Map — per application £6;
(b) copy of the register or any part thereof — per copy £6;
(c) copy of the title plan — per copy £6;
(d) copy of any, or all, of the documents referred to in the register — per copy or set £6.
The opening of the register, like the completion of the programme for the extension of compulsory registration throughout England and Wales, which occurs at the same time, means that the services of the Registry will be available to a wider public. It is difficult to judge in advance the volume and nature of the queries that will be received but, undoubtedly, the numbers will be considerable, coming from a wide range of enquirers. While the Registry’s primary function and purpose must remain to serve the conveyancing community, I am certain that the opening of the register is right in principle and that the challenge that it poses to the Registry is one that can, and will, be met.
