Most new properties are now registered with HM Land Registry (HMLR), and compulsory registration of all property conveyances and most leases will mean that eventually all properties will be registered. The register consists of three parts:

• The Property Register describing the land
• The Proprietor Register describing the nature of the title and proprietor’s details
• The Charges Register containing charges and rights adversely affecting the property

There will also be a Filed Plan showing the extent of the property on an extract of the relevant Ordnance Survey plan usually at a scale of 1:1250 or 1:2500. This is subject to the General Boundaries Rule, stating that the plan only shows the general location of the boundary, the precise position on the ground being left undecided. For instance, where a hedge and ditch borders the land, the red edging will be to the hedge even though the legal boundary may be the far side of the ditch. For this reason it is usually advisable to keep copies of old conveyances (even though strictly speaking they could be thrown away) in order to shed light on the precise boundary line.

The subject of Land Registration is very much in the news at present, since all the previous legislation (principally the Land Registration Act 1925) has been swept away by the Land Registration Act 2002, which comes into force on the 13th October 2003. The associated Rules are now available. Most of the changes in the new Act are administrative, concerning documentation, notices, cautions, forms etc. Some of this is directed at the introduction on e-conveyancing within the next few years: it is anticipated that property transactions, searches, registration etc will be conducted over the internet with a significant saving in time and expense.

However, there are several significant changes. The most obvious is to Adverse Possession, commonly known as “squatters rights”. In the past, subject to a number of conditions, land which had been occupied for 12 years or more could be claimed as belonging to the occupier who would acquire an absolute freehold title. With the new Act this going to be much more difficult for registered land, since the Limitation Act 1980 will not now apply (although it continues as before for unregistered land). Instead, the occupier must register his claim with the Land Registry after 10 years. They will then tell the registered owner of the claim. Three outcomes are possible. Firstly, if no reply is received the occupier is registered as the freehold owner. Secondly, the original owner can object that the occupier has not in fact been in adverse possession for 10 years. In this case, the dispute will have to be resolved by negotiation or through the courts. Or thirdly, the owner can serve a counter notice. The occupier’s application will be rejected unless

• He or she can prove that it would be unfair to reject the application (for instance if the registered owner had approved the occupation).
• They had an independent right to be registered.
• There is a “boundary dispute”. These “boundary disputes” are rather different from the usual disputes, and must satisfy four conditions:
  1. The land concerned must be next to land owned by the occupier.
  2. The exact boundary must not have been determined.
  3. The occupier must reasonably have believed the land to be his for 10 years
  4. The land must have been registered for at least a year.

If the original application is rejected, the occupier can re-apply after 2 years if he has not been evicted and there are no judgements or proceedings against him. This period allows the registered owner to resolve the matter through negotiation or the courts.

Another change to registration procedures is the introduction of “Determined Boundaries”. The Registrar will have the power to determine boundaries. The procedure to determine a boundary will be less difficult and expensive than establishing a Fixed Boundary under the old Act. It may be used in the “Boundary Dispute” case of adverse possession discussed above, and may also be useful with plot sales by developers where common boundaries may be determined.

In summary the Land Registration Act 2002 tidies up registration procedures and moves them into the 21st century ready for e-conveyancing in the near future. Registration of land is made more attractive, for instance by providing more protection against squatters, and the aim is for all land to be registered by 2012.

Further details are available:

• The Act itself: www.landreg.gov.uk/assets/library/documents/tr_pres_prac_notes.pdf
• E-conveyancing: www.econveyancing.gov.uk
• Land Registry: www.landreg.gov.uk