The Registered System: Registered Conveyancing

Question 1

What are the two main stages involved in the sale of land?

Answer 1

Exchange and Completion.

Question 2

What happens during the exchange of contracts stage in land sale?

Answer 2

Parties enter into a contract for the sale of the land.

Question 3

What happens during the completion stage in land sale?

Answer 3

Parties execute a deed to transfer ownership of the land. If the land is registered, the deed is a transfer form.

Question 4

What did the Land Registration Act 2002 and Land Registration Rules 2003 replace?

Answer 4

They repealed the Land Registration Act 1925 and the Land Registration Rules 1925.

Question 5

When did the Land Registration Act 2002 and the Land Registration Rules 2003 come into force?

Answer 5

October 13, 2003.

Question 6

How does a seller prove ownership in registered conveyancing?

Answer 6

By showing the buyer an official copy of the entries on the register at the Land Registry.

Question 7

Is the Land Registry open to the public?

Answer 7

Yes, the register of titles to land is maintained by the Land Registry and is open to the public.

Question 8

Is historical ownership relevant in registered conveyancing?

Answer 8

No, historical ownership of the property is irrelevant.

Question 9

What does the property register contain?

Answer 9

Description of land, legal estate status (freehold/leasehold), and rights benefiting the land.

Question 10

What does the proprietorship register reveal?

Answer 10

Details of legal owners, price paid by current owners since 1 April 2000, and any restrictions.

Question 11

What is recorded in the charges register?

Answer 11

Rights that burden the land, such as restrictive covenants, easements, and mortgages.

Question 12

Does completion of a transfer immediately transfer the legal estate in a registered title?

Answer 12

No, the legal estate remains with the seller until the buyer’s name is put on the register as the new owner (s 27(1) LRA 2002).

Question 13

What are the names of the three registers of title at the Land Registry?

Answer 13

1. Property register,
2. Proprietorship register,
3. Charges register

Question 14

What was the purpose of introducing the system of registered titles?

Answer 14

To remedy the problems with the unregistered title system through a body called Land Registry.

Question 15

How is England and Wales divided for the purposes of land registration?

Answer 15

Into administrative areas, each with its own centrally funded district land registry.

Question 16

What is the policy of ‘creeping first registration’?

Answer 16

A policy where the sale or dealing of unregistered land triggers compulsory first registration for the new owners.

Question 17

When did compulsory registration of land start in England and Wales?

Answer 17

1 December 1990.

Question 18

Which estates are capable of registration?

Answer 18

1. All freehold estates and
2. leasehold estates with more than seven years on the lease.

Question 19

Under the Land Registration Act 2002, what is the registration requirement for leases?

Answer 19

Leases with more than seven years to run can be registered;
those with seven years or less cannot.

Question 20

Should a 7-year lease granted this year be registered?

Answer 20

No, only leases for more than seven years need substantive registration after 13 October 2003.

Question 21

Should a lease for 10 years granted this year be registered?

Answer 21

Yes, it requires substantive registration.

Question 22

Should a lease for 20 years granted in 2002 be registered?

Answer 22

No, it’s grant predates the enforcement of the LRA 2002 and only leases of 21 years or more were registrable under the Land Registration Act 1925.

Question 23

Should a lease for 20 years granted in 2001 and sold on in 2006 be registered?

Answer 23

Yes, it should have been registered in 2006 under the LRA 2002 as it had 14 years left on the lease when it was sold on.

Question 24

Should a lease for 15 years granted in 2002 and sold on in 2011 be registered?

Answer 24

No, in 2011, only six years of the term remained, making it too short for registration under the LRA 2002.

Question 25

Why are only leases with more than seven years left to run registrable?

Answer 25

To simplify conveyancing by excluding short legal and equitable leases from creating new registers of title for short-lived estates.

Question 26

What happens if the estate owner fails to apply for first registration within two months?

Answer 26

The transaction is void regarding the passing of the legal estate, and the seller must transfer the land to the buyer again at the buyer’s cost.

Question 27

What is registered at the Land Registry, the land or the title to the estate in the land?

Answer 27

The title to the estate in the land is registered, not the land itself.

Question 28

Can there be more than one register of title for the same piece of land?

Answer 28

Yes, it’s possible to have multiple registers of title for one piece of land.

A property’s freehold might be registered alongside separate registrations for each of its long-term leaseholds (e.g., 99-year leases for flats within the property). Short-term leases, however, are not registered. This leads to multiple titles for one location.

Question 29

What triggers compulsory first registration?

Answer 29

Compulsory first registration is triggered by specific transactions involving unregistered land, such as selling the land or granting a lease for more than seven years.

Question 30

What are the two methods of first registration?

Answer 30

1. Voluntary first registration, where landowners pay a fee to convert their titles, and
2. compulsory first registration, which is triggered by certain transactions with the land.

Question 31

What triggers compulsory first registration upon the sale of the freehold?

Answer 31

The sale of the freehold is a transfer of a qualifying estate under s 4(1)(a) and qualifies under s 4(2)(a) of the LRA 2002, triggering compulsory first registration.

Question 32

Does mortgaging land to a bank require compulsory first registration?

Answer 32

Yes, mortgaging the freehold estate under s 4(1)(g) of the LRA 2002 triggers compulsory first registration.

Question 33

Does giving the freehold estate to a creditor as a gift trigger compulsory first registration?

Answer 33

Yes, transferring the freehold estate by gift falls under s 4(1)(a) of the LRA 2002, and its negative value is addressed under s 5(6), both triggering compulsory registration.

Question 34

Does granting a right of way to a neighbour trigger compulsory first registration?

Answer 34

No, granting a right of way does not trigger compulsory first registration.

Question 35

What triggers compulsory first registration when granting a legal lease?

Answer 35

Granting a legal lease will trigger compulsory first registration under s 4(1)(c) of the LRA 2002 if it is a lease of more than seven years.

Question 36

Does leaving the freehold of a house to someone in a will trigger compulsory first registration?

Answer 36

The gift in the will does not trigger first registration.

However, upon death of the testator, their personal representatives will transfer the gift to the stated beneficiaries by an assent, which will trigger compulsory first registration of the freehold title under s 4(1)(a)(ii).