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Practice guide 1: first registrations

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Practice guide 1: first registrations

1. Introduction

1. Introduction

1.1 Interests that may be registered

Section 2 of the Land Registration Act 2002 makes provision for the registration of title to:

  • estates in land
  • rentcharges
  • franchises
  • profits a prendre in gross

This guide only deals with the first registration of unregistered freehold and leasehold estates in land. While much of it will be relevant to the first registration of franchises, profits a prendre in gross and rentcharges, it does not deal with the particular issues that arise in registering those interests. See practice guide 16: profits a prendre (taking natural resources from another’s land) and practice guide 18: franchises: registration under the Land Registration Act 2002 for more detailed information.

Nor does this guide deal with:

1.1.1 Estates in land

Only estates that can exist at law, that is a fee simple absolute in possession or a term of years absolute, can be registered under the Land Registration Act 2002.

Because of the provisions of section 27(2)(b) of the Land Registration Act 2002 in respect of the granting of leases out of registered titles, this guide refers only to the registration of leasehold estates:

  • granted out of an unregistered estate
  • granted out of a registered estate before 13 October 2003 that were unregistrable at that time, but are now registrable

Some of these estates, however, are not subject to compulsory registration.

See Compulsory applications for first registration for information about applications where registration of title is compulsory.

See Voluntary applications for first registration for information about applications where registration of title is voluntary.

1.1.2 Manors

It is no longer possible to register title to the lordship of a manor. Under the Land Registration Act 1925 this could be done voluntarily, though it was never compulsory. Where the title to a manor is already registered the proprietor may apply for it to be removed from the register (section 119 of the Land Registration Act 2002).

Many manorial titles include no physical land. Sometimes, however, land may still be attached to a manor and title to it may pass on a transfer of the manor. The compulsory registration provisions of the Land Registration Act 1925 did not apply to land that was part of a manor and included in the sale of a manor as such (section 123(3)(c) of the Land Registration Act 1925 (repealed)).

There is no such exception in the Land Registration Act 2002. Therefore, if a manor includes physical parcels of land, the title to the land concerned must be registered following a transfer, mortgage or lease of a kind that triggers first registration. The lordship of the manor itself cannot be registered.

1.2 The advantages of land registration

Registration under the Land Registration Act 2002 supports home and property ownership and the secured credit market by:

  • providing state-backed registration, giving greater security of title
  • providing greater protection against the possibility of losing title by adverse possession
  • indemnifying the proprietors under section 103 and Schedule 8 of the Land Registration Act 2002 against any loss if they are deprived of their state-backed title (see sections 11 and 12 of the Land Registration Act 2002) on a rectification of the register under section 65 and Schedule 4 of the Land Registration Act 2002
  • introducing certainty and simplicity into conveyancing
  • setting out, or referring in the register to, all the rights that benefit and affect the title other than certain overriding interests
  • showing the general extent of the land in each title by means of a title plan
  • ensuring that capital can circulate freely in the economy by making land readily available as security
  • making large holdings of land and portfolios of charges readily marketable
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