Chapter 4: Investigating Title (Stage 2)

Question 1

What does the header section of the register of title contain?

Answer 1

1. The title number
2. The edition date,
3. The date and time of the official copy
4. The Land Registry office which deals with that title

Question 1

How is the HMLR register of title divided?

Answer 1

Divided into the header section, the Property Register, the Proprietorship Register, and the Charges Register

Question 2

What is a title number?

Answer 2

Unique HMLR reference number for the property and must be quoted in the contract + transfer when the property is being sold

Question 3

What is the edition date?

Answer 3

Date when the register of title was last updated by HMLR

Question 4

What is the date and time of the official copy?

Answer 4

The time when the copy was produced.

Important because this is the date which should be quoted as the ‘search from’ date when applying for an official search against the title.

Question 5

What does the Property Register identify?

Answer 5

The property by its postal address + reference to the title plan.

It specifies the legal estate held and, if a leasehold, it will give brief details of the lease (date, parties, term, rent, etc).

Question 6

Where will any rights benefitting the property appear?

Answer 6

Any rights benefitting the property, such as a right of way over neighbouring land, will appear as a notice on the Property Register

Question 7

What might a typical entry in the Property Register re rights benefitting the property say?

Answer 7

Typical entry in the register might say:

‘TOGETHER WITH the benefit of a right of way over the land coloured brown on the title plan.’

Question 8

What does the Proprietorship Register do?

Answer 8

Specifies the class of title held + the name of the current holder or holders of the legal estate.

Question 9

If there is a restriction affecting the title, where will it appear?

Answer 9

On the Proprietorship Register

Question 10

What does the Charges Register contain?

Answer 10

Details of encumbrances on the land - entries which adversely affect the land.

E.g., restrictive covenants or mortgages will appear as a notice on the Charges Register

Question 11

What happens if a property has no encumbrances?

Answer 11

There will be no Charges Register - rare

Question 12

What will the buyer’s solicitor be looking for when investigating a registered title?

Answer 12

Whether the title number matches that in the contract.

Look for encumbrances or the class of the seller’s title

Question 13

What would the buyer’s solicitor check if the seller’s solicitor mentions the property uses a driveway that passes over a neighbour’s property? (registered land)

Answer 13

When examining the Land Registry official copy of the title to the property, the buyer’s solicitor would look for an entry of an easement in the Property Register to confirm the right of way for the driveway is properly registered

Question 14

If the seller has an existing mortgage on the property, what would the buyer’s solicitor be looking for when investigating title (registered land)?

Answer 14

The buyer’s solicitor would look for an entry of the seller’s existing mortgage on the Charges Register.

The buyer’s solicitor will also seek an undertaking from the seller’s solicitor to redeem the mortgage from the sale proceeds on completion.

Question 15

What will the buyer’s solicitor be looking for when investigating unregistered land?

Answer 15

Will be looking for many things, including:
i. whether the land should have been registered with the Land Registry,

ii. whether there is a good root of title and an unbroken chain of ownership from the root to the current seller,

iii. whether the documents have been stamped correctly (indicating any relevant stamp duty was paid),

iv. whether the seller has the ability to sell the property,

v. whether any third parties might have rights in relation to the land.

Question 16

What must a seller’s title begin with if the property being sold is not yet registered with HMLR?

Answer 16

Seller’s title must begin with a document called the ‘root of title’.

Question 17

What is needed for a document to be a good root?

Answer 17

The document must:

1. Deal with the whole legal and equitable interest in the property,
2. Contain an adequate description of the property, and
3. Be at least 15 years old at the date of the contract, and
4. Do nothing to cast doubt on the title

Question 18

Unregistered land - what must the seller’s solicitor check when drafting the contract?

Answer 18

Must check the title deeds to identify the root of title to insert into the contract.

Question 19

Unregistered land - what is usually the best document to be a root of title?

Answer 19

A conveyance on sale - as the title would have been investigated at the time of that transaction.

This is in contrast to a deed of gift, where the title is unlikely to have been investigated at the time of the gift

Question 20

Unregistered land - how does the solicitor send the buyer’s solicitor the title?

Answer 20

Won’t send the original title deeds to the buyer.

Instead, the solicitor will send an ‘epitome of title’ - chronological list of the documents with a copy of each document attached to the epitome.

Question 21

Unregistered land - when will the seller send the original title deeds to the buyer?

Answer 21

On completion of the sale once the sale proceeds have been received.

Question 22

When did England and Wales become subject to compulsory registration?

Answer 22

1 December 1990

Question 23

What is the effect of compulsory registration?

Answer 23

Since 1 December 1990, all land must be registered on the occurrence of a triggering event.

Therefore, it is important to check that there has been no event that there has been no event since the root of title which would have triggered first registration.

If there is, the seller’s solicitor would have to make an application to HMLR to register the title before drafting the contract.

Question 24

What defects will a buyer’s solicitor be looking for when investigating unregistered title?

Answer 24

1. Whether the land should have been registered with the Land Registry,
2. Whether there is a good root of title + an unbroken chain of ownership from the root to the current seller,
3. Whether the documents have been stamped correctly (indicating whether any relevant stamp duty was paid)
4. Whether the seller has the ability to sell the property, and
5. Whether any third parties might have rights in relation to the land

Question 25

Unregistered land - what would be done if the buyer’s solicitor notes that there was a transfer of ownership of the property 20 years ago?

Answer 25

This event should have triggered 1st registration of title to the property with HMLR

The buyer’s solicitor should insist that the seller’s solicitor registers the title without delay.

Once the registration is complete, the seller’s solicitor should send an amended contract showing the registered title accompanies by the new title register + title plan

Question 26

Unregistered land - what should be done if the contract shows the seller’s name as ‘Jane Smith’, but on investigating title the buyer’s solicitor notices that the conveyance to the seller showed her name as ‘Jane Brown’?

Answer 26

The buyer’s solicitor should ask for evidence of the change in the seller’s name, as this represents a break in the chain of ownership.
E.g., a marriage certificate

Question 27

Unregistered land - If the investigation of title reveals that 1 co-owner has died, what should be done if it is clear that the co-owners held the beneficial interest as joint tenants?

Answer 27

The buyer’s solicitor should ask for a copy of the deceased’s death certificate to confirm that the surviving co-owner has taken the interest of the deceased by survivorship.

The Law of Property (Joint Tenants) Act 1964 provides that a buyer can safely take a conveyance from a surviving co-owner in these circumstances