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Government - Voluntary Land Registration

To date, almost half of England and Wales remains unregistered. Much urban land has been compulsorily registered, because, for example, it has been sold, mortgaged or re-mortgaged. However, many rural areas in England and Wales remain unregistered, mainly because the turnover of land ownership is much lower.

Registering land with Land Registry means the state guarantees the owner’s title to their property, giving them better protection. It also means that if and when they come to sell, or they are asked to prove their ownership, they have easy access to their records online.

To encourage voluntary registration, Land Registry offers a 25% discount on its usual registration fee. It has also set up a national register development team and local teams for each of its offices to help promote and encourage people to register their land voluntarily and to guide applicants through the process.

Based in Nottingham, the national team provides support for most national bodies and large-scale landowners who are going through the voluntary registration process. The local teams provide knowledge and expertise for large-scale landowners at a local level, with the aim of making registering land as straightforward as possible. The registration process varies in length and cost depending on the size and value of the land involved, the state of available deeds and documents and the number of individual plots to be registered.

Land registration allows landowners to manage their land more effectively, to consolidate complex legal information or historic data about their land, and to help protect their land against encroachment. It is also cost-effective in the long run because landowners can benefit from the current 25 per cent discounted fee, making sure their land is registered ahead of any future transactions or changes in ownership. Ultimately, voluntary registration may help to speed up the conveyancing process.

For further information about voluntary land registration please call 0800 432 0432 or visit www.landregistry.gov.uk and the following notes may also help you. (Ed. 06/12/2007)

With the world’s largest property database of over 20 million titles, Land Registry underpins the economy by guaranteeing ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property. Around £1million worth of property is processed every minute in England and Wales.

As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been open to the public since 1990.

Facts and figures

• Compulsory registration was brought in on a regional basis. The first areas were parts of London in 1890 but it was only made compulsory across the remaining parts of England and Wales by 1990, when the Land Register became open document.

• The Land Register is the largest property database in Europe and underpins the economy by guaranteeing in the region of £3 trillion worth of property

• Land Registry has registered over 20 million titles already in England and Wales but still needs to register around four million titles to complete the Land Register

• 90 per cent of the population live in registered properties, but only 50 per cent of the land mass is registered

• The percentage of titles registered varies across England and Wales; those areas that are least registered at present are:

• There is currently a 25 per cent discount on the land registration fee for all voluntary first registrations

• The cost of registering land is not particularly high. For instance, for a property or land worth £100,000 it costs you £75

• Land Registry has a number of local offices throughout England and Wales dedicated to providing guidance, knowledge and expertise to customers to make the process of registering land as straightforward as possible

• Last year 99 per cent of Land Registry’s customers said that overall they were satisfied or very satisfied with the full range of services provided

Did you know?

• A registered title is guaranteed by the state

• The owner of a registered title is much better protected against losing title than the owner of unregistered land

• Registration helps protect your title against adverse possession claims

• Registration provides an opportunity to make improvements to estate and land management procedures

• Land Registry is offering a 25 per cent discount on the cost of voluntary first registrations and the help of an experienced registration team to guide you through the process. You may not even need to involve a solicitor.

• Potential purchasers are becoming increasingly likely to expect land to be registered before going ahead. So if you are ever thinking of selling your land, this will be a big advantage

• Having all land registered will benefit everyone as it means that future transactions are likely to be quicker and simpler, as relevant information is more readily available

• Even when the deeds have been lost, or there are other difficulties with proving title, Land Registry will consider voluntary applications if satisfactory evidence, including a statutory declaration, is provided

• Registering your land with Land Registry is not the same as registering with the Rural Payments Agency (a separate body) for subsidy purposes. Land Registry collects different information and registering with us gives you a state guarantee of ownership. You only have to do this once.

• Land Registry has trading fund status. This means that it has to be self-financing and makes no call on public funds for normal operating purposes

The Process

Registration is usually quite straightforward.

1. You can discuss your application with a local register development manager at Land Registry
2. To find out where your nearest Land Registry office is call 0800 432 0432, 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday or go to www.landregistry.gov.uk
3. The register development manager will help to make the process as simple as possible and will explain the standard tasks to be completed
4. Provide evidence of ownership – To confirm your ownership, Land Registry needs to see all the relevant title documents. Land Registry is happy to discuss any issues you might have, if you cannot produce all the documents, or are concerned about parting with old or historic deeds.
5. Produce a plan – You need to supply a plan, preferably based on Ordnance Survey, showing the area/areas of land to be registered. Land Registry has developed a system that allows the import and export of existing electronic data. For the larger and more complex registrations, this can save time transferring records backwards and forwards.
6. Complete a land charges search – You need to lodge an up-to-date land charges search or series of searches with your application. This is easy to carry out and will usually cost only £2-£5. You can discuss how best to do this with your local register development manager.

The Cost

There are standard, set fees for land registration. You are entitled to a 25 per cent discount if you apply voluntarily. Fees are normally based on the value of the land. For a landholding with a value of over £1million Land Registry’s voluntary registration fee is normally just £525. However, for an application made up of a large number of parcels of land the fee is based on the number of units of land, rather than the value. If you are registering more than 70 units of land, the fee is £7.50 per unit. This goes down to £3.75 if you are registering more than 500 units of land. Your local register development manager will be able to assist you further on this.

Ten Top Tips

1. Don’t delay registration – it is a simple and efficient process that can help protect your land
2. Use your time wisely - why not spend time this winter getting your land and estate in order? Time spent now could save you time in the future when dealing with your land or should any claim or dispute arise
3. Invest in your future – it’s a one-off cost and brings the benefits of longer-term savings and better protection for your land
4. Take advantage of the discount – a 25 per cent discount is available to all first time voluntary land registration applicants
5. Save on administrative headaches – voluntary land registration will simplify your title and computerise your records, providing you with easy access to them in the future
6. Identify your landholdings - at the start of the process, think about the landholdings you have, whether any are already registered and what title documents you can produce
7. Think about your priorities - consider the order in which you wish to register your landholdings
8. Think about your set up - do you have the people and budget in place to go through the process yourself? If not consider asking Land Registry about the support that is available
9. Think about taking advice - you may want to involve your professional advisers in the registration process
10. Find out more - call Land Registry on 0800 432 0432 for guidance on the voluntary registration process. Or visit your local Land Registry office. You can find details of Land Registry local offices at www.landregistry.gov.uk or by calling 0800 432 0432.

Questions & Answers

• Land Registry is looking to create a comprehensive Land Register for England and Wales. We need your help to do this
• 90 per cent of the population live in registered properties, but only about 55 per cent of the land mass is registered. It is the remaining 45 per cent of land we need to register.
• Land Registry has registered over 20 million titles in England and Wales, but our job is not finished; we still need to register an estimated four million titles to finish the task
• Having all land registered will bring a comprehensive database to the property market that benefits all. It also means that transactions will be quicker and easier as information will be more readily available.
• To help protect you, we want your land to be registered as yours. A registered title is guaranteed by the state.

• Even if your land has been in your family for generations, registering it is still important to ensure its security and effective management for the future
• Importantly, because it helps protect the land against any possible claims in the future, by identifying the land as yours and giving you an ownership and title guarantee
• Beyond this, it allows you to get your estate in order for your family and the future whilst you are in a good position to do so
• If you are thinking about selling, potential purchasers are increasingly expecting land to be registered before buying, so this may offer you an advantage

• Registering will additionally help with the ongoing management of your land.
• It modernises, computerises and simplifies all existing paperwork and systems.
• It will consolidate and store relevant information in one place

• We are encouraging farmers and landowners to apply during the winter when there may be a bit more time to dedicate to administrative activities
• We are also currently offering a 25 per cent discount for all those registering their land for the first time.

• It is not as costly as you might think. The fee is based on the value of your land, ranging from as little as £30 for land worth up to £50,000 and up to a maximum of £525 for land that is worth over £1million.
• Registering your land now can actually save you time and money in the future
• Land Registry is offering a 25 per cent discount on the cost of voluntary first registrations and the help of an experienced registration team to guide you through the process. You may not even need to involve a solicitor.

• Currently offering a 25 per cent discount so make the most of it
• Voluntary registration allows you to register in your own time and plan the process rather than when you have to because you have hit one of the compulsory registration ‘triggers’ such as a sale or mortgage
• It will allow you to be in charge of the registration process, before it is compulsory and this offers peace of mind as registration gives you a straightforward way of demonstrating ownership

• You only need to go through the process once and after that you have secured the future of the land for as long as you want it to remain yours

OK, but how much time and effort is it going to take?

• As well as our head office, we also have a number of local offices in England and Wales dedicated to providing guidance, knowledge and expertise to customers on making the process of registering land as straightforward as possible
• Last year 99 per cent of Land Registry’s customers said that overall they were satisfied with the full range of services provided. A large percentage also said they found it much easier than they imagined.