Registered and unregistered land, what is the difference?

There are two systems of recording ownership of land in England & Wales; registered & unregistered.  Whether your land is registered or unregistered can have a major impact, & not only when you come to sell. Holly Stevens, Director & Head of Residential Property at Ware & Kay in York, considers the implications. 

Registered land, an overview

The Land Registry keeps a register of all registered land, which is indexed on a map. This register contains information on approximately 24 million properties. 

Within this overall register, the Land Registry allocates properties their own unique number & individual register.  Each individual register includes three sections:

• ‘proprietor register’ - contains ownership information;
• ‘property register’ - contains a description of the property, linked to a map; &
• ‘charges register’- contains details of any mortgages or charges affecting the property.

A property’s individual register may also show other information, such as whether there are any rights of way or restrictive covenants which affect the property.

The information recorded in the three sections of the register is commonly referred to as ‘title information’. 

Unregistered land, an overview

A search of the Land Registry’s index map will reveal whether land is registered or unregistered. If land is unregistered, in the absence of personal knowledge, it can be hard to find out who owns it.  There are no central records of ownership to search.

Proof of ownership, or title, depends on being able to show a chain of ownership through deeds & other documents.  This is called the ‘root of title’.  A good root of title will be at least 15 years old & will usually include the conveyance to the current owner & to their predecessors. However, if there have been no recent sales, you may have to go back more than 15 years.

If you own unregistered land, it is very important to keep all the original deeds safe. The conveyancer acting for any prospective buyer or lender will need to examine them carefully to check your title & any other matters that may affect the property.

Two systems working in parallel

Since 1990 it has been compulsory when buying unregistered land to apply to have the land registered within two months of a sale completing. Other transactions which result in a change of ownership and trigger a requirement to register include gifts of land or assents by personal representatives.

With some land in England & Wales having not changed hands for decades, there is still about 15 per cent of land that remains unregistered, with the highest proportion concentrated in rural areas & districts which were among the last to introduce an obligation to register unregistered land prior to it becoming compulsory nationwide. 

The advantages of registered land

Registered land has many advantages over its unregistered counterpart, including:

• Ownership, & matters affecting the title, are clearer and more certain.
• Conveyancing registered land is usually quicker and more straightforward.
• Increasingly, buyers expect land to be registered before proceeding with a transaction. Registering your land helps to make it ready for sale & more marketable.
• Deeds can easily become lost or destroyed. In contrast, there is a central, permanent, record of all registered land which anyone can access online or by making a postal application.
• Registered land offers more protection against property fraud.
• Registration can give you more protection if you are an absent owner, or you do not physically occupy all your land yourself, as it is harder for a squatter to defeat the ownership rights of a registered legal owner.
• It is important for the title to reflect how people own the land, whether it be as joint tenants or tenants in common.  The land registry enter a restriction upon the title to show if the property is owned as tenants in common  If you are given advice to sever an existing joint tenancy in connection with Wills then to avoid any discrepancies or lost documents then the land can be voluntarily registered with the land registry to record the exact position.

Registering your unregistered land

If you own unregistered land, you should consider voluntarily applying for registration. Why not discuss this with your solicitor?

If you would like a quotation or a confidential discussion about registering your land, or for any property advice, contact Holly Stevens at Ware & Kay in York on 01904 716000 or email holly.stevens@warekay.co.uk.