Registration of your property title

If your property is not registered it’s possible to apply to voluntarily register your property.

This is something that the Land Registry actively encourages, currently offering a 25 per cent discount on its usual fees.

Specialist conveyancers at Wards Solicitors can deal with this voluntary registration process and check that all the details of your property’s title are as they should be at the same time.

More security

If your property is registered, it is easier to prove exactly what you own, including any rights over neighbouring land for instance. It also:

• Protects your interest in and title to the property by being part of a public register;
• Provides security and certainty as to what you own;
• Simplifies any subsequent transactions whether in your lifetime or by your executors and beneficiaries in the event of your death.

You can also sign up for the HM Land Registry alerts and be notified if someone tries to make changes to a property title for example, applying to change the name and details of the registered owner.

Please see what we have written on Protecting your Property from Fraud for more information.

More simple system

Instead of having to keep safe a paper copy of the original title deeds, sometimes comprised of a large bundle of  old documents, once a property is registered with the HM Land Registry it consolidates all the key information to an electronic A4 document with a clear plan of the property.

Sometimes, with older properties, some of the deeds may have been lost and voluntary registration enables any problems which might result from this in a future sale to be ironed out at the same time.

Peace of mind

Keeping track of paper deeds can be demanding. They are used to ‘prove’ your title and each individual document is important. If the deeds are lost or incomplete in any way, this can cause difficulties, delays and expense.  Registration simplifies this, providing you with certainty and security.

Because the HM Land Registry holds your title electronically, it means your deeds cannot be lost. HM Land Registry also guarantees your title, provides you with a copy and enables your lawyer to obtain copies electronically on your behalf when needed.

At Wards Solicitors, we strongly recommend that you have your title registered. The cost is usually £600 plus VAT (£720 total) plus the registration fee charged by the HM Land Registry – please see the table below. In addition there may be some very small payments required for search fees.

Our fee is based on the proposed registration of a standard residential property where the title is free from defect and the deeds are complete so that there is no bar to registration. If the title appears to be in any way more complex than normal, we would inform you if this affected our fee as soon as possible and once we had inspected your title deeds.

25 per cent discount on the normal is given on registration application based on the value of your property as follows:

• For a property valued less than £80,000 the Land Registry fee is £30;
• For a property valued between £80,000 and £100,000 the fee is £60;
• For a property valued between £100,000 and £200,000 the fee is £140;
• For a property valued between £200,000 and £500,000 the fee is £200;
• For a property valued between £500,000 and £1million the fee is £400;
• For a property valued at £1million plus the fee is £680;