To register or not to register

North Yorkshire became a compulsory registration area in November 1986 and if you have bought your property since then it should be registered at the Land Registry. For those who bought their property before then, or have inherited it, your property may not be registered. If your property is not registered, there are good reasons for applying for voluntary registration.

Firstly, to encourage voluntary first registrations the Land Registry have a slightly reduced scale of fees. For example, if you apply for voluntary registration of property worth about £150,000 you will pay a fee of £110 rather than £150 for a first registration triggered by, say, a gift of the property. If the property is worth £250,000 the fee would be £165 rather than £220. Of course, there are legal fees and search fees on top.

Secondly, there is the problem of lost, stolen or destroyed deeds. For owners of unregistered land this can be a major headache. If you cannot find your deeds and you have a property which is not registered at the Land Registry you will need to make extensive searches for them. If they cannot be found you will need to make a statutory declaration with as much detail about the circumstances in which the deeds were lost, the searches made, and the occupation and ownership of the property. The probability is that the Land Registry will register you with Possessory Title and when you come to sell your property the buyer is likely to require you to obtain an indemnity policy. All this will cost you time and money. If your title is registered, however, you do not need to worry. The computerised title at the Land Registry is evidence of title and therefore, if your paper "deeds" are lost it is not a problem and you need do nothing more than get an official copy from the Land Registry.

Thirdly, owners of registered land have additional protection against squatters claiming their land. A squatter has to show sufficient evidence of actual possession (eg. that the land has been fenced off and used as a garden) and an intention to possess (rather than acknowledging that the land belongs to another and you are occupying with their consent). If a squatter can show that, at the time of the application, he has been occupying unregistered land for at least twelve years there is little that the original owner can do. If the land is registered at the Land Registry, however, whilst he can apply after 10 years adverse possession, the Land Registry will serve notice on the registered proprietor. The registered proprietor can serve a counter-notice and unless the squatter can show that he is relying on one of three specific legal conditions his application will fail. The registered proprietor then has a further two years in which to take proceedings to remove the squatter and, if he does so, he has protected his property. Therefore, by registering your property you have the opportunity to protect your land.

If you do have unregistered property it may well be worth considering voluntarily registering it at the Land Registry. It may cost in the short term but may save you money in the longer term.

Michael Sheldon