Top Tips on land Registration

Land Registry figures indicate that 30% of England and Wales remains unregistered, the Land Registry have for some years now offered a 25% discount on voluntary registrations.


There are benefits of registering your land and registration itself provides security of title which in turn provides a better protection against claims for adverse possession.

By registering your land you will gain a better certainty and security about your ownership. Typically unregistered title deeds are held by land owners, their solicitor or if charged by the bank. Registration leads to an electronic register and the Land Registry’s aim being to have a ‘complete register’ therefore any relevant information is either set out in the register itself or copies of the relevant documents are ‘filed’ and can be obtained from the Land Registry.

Points to consider as a landowner regarding land registration are:

1. Locate your deeds - are these with your bank, solicitors, at your offices, at home, under the mattress (it has happened before!);
2. Establish the extent of your ownership - i.e compare what you think you own on the ground with what the deeds say you own;
3. Are the boundaries correct? If necessary you may need to walk them to double check;
4. Ensure you have all the deeds/documentation you need to prove you have good title to your land - the rules require evidence of a good 'Root of Title' 15 years is the minimum;
5. Do the deeds show you as the legal owner?;
6. Does the plan/s and description in the Deeds adequately describe my land?
   

The Land Registry website provides guidance on registration and DTM's Property team have experience in land registration from dealing with a small plot/property to the registration of complex estates to date up to 6,000 acres.

If you're land is unregistered and you wish to fully protect it by registration please contact Thomas Pearson for assistance with the process.