Summary Registered Land - Land Law (LLB)

REGISTERED LAND

Registration
 HM Land Registry record title with quality, description, identity of owner, other rights + interests
 Does not create right, protects them, need to exist before to be registered
 One land can have more than one type of title e.g. fee simple with a long lease
 Legal freehold= fee simple absolute in possession, legal leasehold= +7 years these registrable
 ‘Registration of title’ has replaced ‘title deeds’ for proof of ownership
 HM land registry 85% titles registered LRA new owner not registered ‘first registration title’

First registration
 Triggers for compulsory first registration of unregistered titles are (s.4 LRA 2002 provides triggers)
o Transfer of unregistered freehold estate for valuable consideration by deed, gift, court order
o Transfer of lease with more than 7 years
o Grant of legal lease for more than 7 years
o First legal mortgage of a freehold estate
 s.3 LRA 2002 allows voluntary registration  incentives reduced fees makes land easier to sell

Purpose and nature of system of registered land (LRA)
 Reduce expense + effort of purchasing– less lengthy proceduresmore saleable + alienable
 Reduce risk from a person title is unsafe or unclear use title to investigate on Land Registry
 Purchaser knows rights + interests of others price paid reflects economic and social value
 Allows purchaser to buy land free of certain types of interest, from money paid (overreaching)
 Protect third-party rights so survive a sale of that land – old unregistered land ‘doctrine of notice’
plays no part in system of registered land LRA 2002 has three-fold categorisation of third-party
proprietary rights: those overreached, those ‘unregistered interests which override’ and those
interests that must be protected by registration
 Introduce e-conveyancing transfer, mortgage + create third-party rights no more paper
 2 legal estates: leasehold + fee simple can be registered, lease less than 7years no register

Three principles of registered land
MIRROR PRINCIPLE
 Reflects all rights + interests  any limitation of ownership and any rights enjoyed by other
persons purchaser knows what he is buying and persons with an interest knows it is protected
 E&W not follow mirror principle fully category of rights not registered bind purchaser=
‘overriding’ (Schedule 1 + 3 of LRA 2002) purchaser needs to inspect register and land itself
 Now general duty to disclose unregistered rights that override registrar
 So register of title is not a true reflection of all third party interests inspect register + land

CURTAIN PRINCIPLE
 Details of trust affecting the land are not entered onto the register regarded as private family
matters and purchaser is not concerned with such trusts so are kept off the register (’behind
the curtain’), provided purchaser complies with formalities, the equitable interests under trust of
land are always overreached and will not affect purchaser
 Entry of ‘restriction’ on register alerts purchaser existence of trust, so need to comply with
formalities to ensure equitable interests are overreached

INSURANCE PRINCIPLE
 Accuracy of register is guaranteed by the State, if inaccurate, will be rectified/altered + be
compensated (s.103 LRA 2002) indemnity confidence + encourages to register
Overview of Registered land system under LRA 2002



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,  Fee simple absolute in possession (freehold) or legal leasehold over 7 years
 Register extract: unique title number, address, price stated, registered owners, lenders
 PROPERTY REGISTER: describes land e.g. freehold as outlined on plan, transfer date
 PROPRIETORSHIP REGISTER: name of proprietor and grade of their title
 CHARGES REGISTER: third-party rights (not unregistered interests which override) e.g. mortgage

Rejection of DOCTRINE OF NOTICE (LRA abandons doctrine of notice)
 Distinction between legal or equitable disregarded
 Doctrine of notice: when a person takes an estate with notice that someone else had a claim on it
at the time of transfer, claim may still be asserted against new owner even if disregarded at law

REGISTRABLE ESTATES UNDER LRA 2002
 2 types of estates: LEGAL FREEHOLDS and LEGAL LEASEHOLDS (MORE THAN 7YEARS)
 ‘Registered disposition’ transfers title failure to register= equitable title

Registered charges
 Mortgage release capital value executed ‘charge by deed’  entered on register
 ‘Charge certificate’ under LRA 1925 for evidence of mortgage, has been abolished

OVERRIDING INTERESTS (Unregistered interests which override – LRA terminology)
 Rights priority over registered title exercise right irrespective of who is registered
 Overriding interests against first registered proprietor or registered on transfer of registered title
 Interests OVERRIDE AT FIRST REGISTRATION IN SCH.1, INTERESTS OVERRIDE TRANSFER SCH.3
 Sch.1 wider, LRA 2002 reduces overriding interests encourages disclose any known overriding
 Sch.3 need to have proprietary right and be in actual occupation
 Overriding interests bind purchaser without a register entry – distorts ‘mirror’ principle
 Overriding interests not on register inspect property prior to sell part of conveyancing

Interests protected by registration
 ‘minor interests’ under LRA 1925 category of another person’s right had to be registered to be
binding, under LRA 2002 no category of ‘minor interests’ avoid term
 2002 LRA same logic, third party interests on register binding unless Sch.1 or 3 (overriding)
 S.71 LRA: general duty to disclose overriding interestsprotected
 Under LRA 2002 protect interests by entry of Notice, can be ‘unilateral’ or ‘agreed’ and proprietor
may be controlled with ability to deal with land by Restriction so Notice + Restriction
 4 types of proprietary rights: estates, registered charges, interests which override, and interests
protected by registration allows purchaser + third parties to know how to protect rights

Grades of title
ABSOLUTE TITLE (about 99% of titles are absolute)
 Highest grade of title, full rights of proprietor, freeholds and less common leaseholds, title is
sound, appears nobody else could possible claim the land
 But a fee simple with an absolute title is subject to s.11 LRA 2002: overriding interests, minor
interests protected by entry on register, if registered proprietor is a trustee, equitable interests
under trust which trustee has notice

GOOD LEASEHOLD TITLE
Long leaseholds usually on good leasehold, same quality of title as absolute subject to any interests
affecting landlord’s freehold strong title, apply upgrade to absolute under s.62 LRA
POSSESSORY TITLE




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