LAND LAW

Land Registration Act 2002

Land Registration Act 2002

Introduction

The fundamental objective of the Land Registration Act 2002 is that...the register should be a complete and accurate reflection of the state of the title of the land at any given time, so that it is possible to investigate title to land...with the absolute minimum of additional enquires inspections".

According to this statement, the creation of a protected legal first mortgage the grant or assignment of a lease of seven years or more and the grant of a lease which takes effect more than three months after the date it is granted . An important change is introduction of a new system in relation to adverse possession for registered land. The effect of this new regime will make registered land virtually squatter-proof and clients owning unregistered properties are advised to consider applying to the Land Registry for voluntary registration to take advantage of this.

The Act paves the way for the introduction of electronic conveyancing to replace the traditional paper-based procedure as we discussed in a previous edition and replaces all existing legislation relating to land registration with the aim of exploiting the potential of an electronic system and eliminating defects in the present law.

Matters capable of registration will now include all leases of 7 years or more leases of any length granted to take effect in possession more than 3 months after the date of grant local land charges some overriding interests e .g. rights of occupation easements acquired by implied grant or prescription profits for instance fishing and shooting rights land owned directly by the Crown (demesne land) which includes most of the foreshore and franchises e .g .the right to hold a fair or market. Of the above, the compulsory requirement to register leases of 7 years or more is likely to have the biggest impact in practice and in time it is probable that there will be compulsory registration of leases of 3 years and over .Dealings with leases are the most common type of property transaction and this new requirement has attracted criticism, as it will inevitably involve more bureaucracy and increased costs. Conversely, the Government's view is that the advantage of a more transparent system will outweigh the extra work and expense .In line with the Act's objective that the Register should show a full picture of any registered title, the number of overriding interests, to which property is subject to, will be reduced and some are to lose their overriding status after 10 years. For the first time, overriding interests are to be treated differently on first registration and on subsequent dealings.

Discussion

The Land Registration Act 2002 came in to force on October 13th 2003. Its main objective is to provide a complete and accurate reflection of the ownership of land. It has also been suggested that it should be possible to investigate this ownership online, keeping enquiries and inspections to a minimum. The Law Commission acknowledge that 'absolute' registration is unrealistic, but the new legislation will have a considerable ...