Principles of registration Flashcards
What is the aim of land registration?
The buyer would always know precisely what it was buying, and the holder of the interest would always know that, by recording it on the register, the interest would be enforceable against the new owner.
What are the three principles of land registration?
- The Mirror Principle
- The Curtain Principle
- The Insurance Principle
What is the Mirror Principle?
The register should reflect all matters that the property has the benefit of and all the matters that the property is subject to. The register should be a clear and comprehensive account of the ownership and rights that benefit and burden a piece of land, and a purchaser should only need to look at the register to understand who owns a property and what third party rights will bind the property.
However, consider overriding interests.
What is the curtain principle?
The register records the legal title. If a property is held on trust, the purchasers need not be concerned with the beneficial or equitable ownership of the land (`what lies behind the curtain’) which is often far more complicated than the legal ownership.
The curtain principle reflects the idea that certain equitable interests in land can be voluntarily hidden from the buyer.
What is the insurance principle?
The accuracy of the register if guaranteed by the state. If there is an error with the register, it will be corrected and anyone who has suffered a loss will be compensated. This compensation is often referred to as `state indemnity’.
What happens when a piece of land is first registered?
When a piece of land is registered for the first time, it is given a unique title number and the details of the landowner and rights that benefit/burden a piece of land are recorded.
The title plan the LR created for each property ensures that there is an accurate plan of the property.
What are the four classes of title?
- Absolute
- Qualified
- Good Leasehold
- Possessory
Explain keeping the register updated and examples of when the register will need to be updated
LRA 2002, provides a list of transactions involving already registered land which must be registered i.e. the Land Registry must be notified of the transaction so that the register can be updated accordingly.
Failure to register means the transaction is not legally recognised. For example, the buyer of a freehold estate is not recognised as the new legal owner until registration has taken place; the tenant of a lease over 7 years is not recognised as having a legal lease until the lease is registered; and a legal mortgage is not created until it has been registered at the Land Registry.
What is absolute title?
The best form of ownership. The land is only bound by interests that are registered on the title or overriding interests.
What is qualified title?
Land Registry is of the opinion that the title has some defect which it will then specify on the register.
What is good leasehold title?
Granted where the Land Registry is satisfied as to the title of the leaseholder only not the freeholder. This could be the case where the freehold title is unregistered and where the applicant fails to submit evidence of the freehold title when applying to register the leasehold title.
What is possessory title?
Where the applicant is in possession of the property or is in receipt of rents and profits and there is no other class of title that can be given. Where there are no title deeds to prove ownership, or the deeds have been destroyed. It is usually given to those who claim under Adverse Possession’ or Squatters Rights’.
