If your house has not been sold or mortgaged since December 1990, there is a chance it will not be registered with HM Land Registry, and proof of ownership will be dependent on producing the original paper deeds. As time goes on, there is a greater risk of those deeds going missing. Perhaps the memory of where those deeds are stored has been forgotten, they may have been destroyed in a flood or fire, or they have been accidentally thrown away in a well-intentioned tidy-up. So, what can you do if that should happen?
Without original title deeds, it can be difficult to prove to prospective buyers or mortgage lenders that you own a freehold property, but there are actions you can take.
An application can be made to the Land Registry on the basis of ‘lost title deeds’.
Who can make an application?
You can make an application if you are the owner of the property, or the personal representative or attorney of the property owner. If you are a personal representative or attorney, you will need to provide the Grant of Probate or Power of Attorney.
What steps do you need to take?
1. Search for the deeds
If the deeds have been misplaced, the Land Registry will ask you to confirm what happened to them, and that you have done your best to search for them. This includes not only checking any documents you have in the property, but contacting any past mortgage lenders or solicitors who may have the deeds in their stores.
You should keep note of the dates of any contact you made with these companies, and the dates of any responses. If possible, you should communicate in writing, or make a note of anything said in a telephone conversation. We can assist in making these enquiries.
2. Use photocopies
If you have photocopies of the deeds, these can be very helpful to establish ownership, even though they do not have the same legal weight as the originals.
If you find that the photocopies have a stamp on them from a solicitor certifying them as ‘true copies’, or if there is a handwritten note where a solicitor confirms they have been ‘examined’ then HM Land Registry may accept them as equivalent to the originals.
3. Collect other documents connecting you to the property
HM Land Registry accept all sorts of paperwork as evidence of ownership of a property, whether you live in it or rent it out. For example: utility bills, solicitors’ letters from the time of the purchase, or a Will bequeathing the property. You should collect a variety of documents dating back as far as possible to show continuous possession of the property. In most circumstances, the oldest document will need to date back at least 12 years.
4. Sign a Statement of Truth
We will help you to put together all of the information and evidence and complete a ‘Statement of Truth’ for the Land Registry.
You will need to let us know whether you are aware of any rights you have over neighbouring land, or if other people might have rights over your property. Is there a footpath through the garden or a passageway through the house that is used by a neighbour? Does anyone need to come onto the land to be able to maintain parts of their own property, such as a ditch or overhanging eaves or gutters? Does anyone park on your land, or cross any part of it with vehicles to get to their home?
5. Provide a plan
You will need to provide a plan of the property to show exactly what area of land you are looking to register. The plan must allow the property to be identified on the Ordnance Survey map, have a scale, and show which direction is nNorth. You may need to employ a surveyor to draw this plan for you.
6. Submit to the Land Registry
You will need to find out the market value of the property, as HM Land Registry will base their fee on this.
Once submitted, the time it takes the Land Registry to consider the application will depend on their processing times for first registrations, which at the time of writing can be around 18 months.
If you are selling, transferring or mortgaging the property, we would be able to ask the Land Registry to expedite the application, and they should then attend to it within a matter of weeks.
Are there limitations to the registration?
HM Land Registry will usually award a ‘possessory’ title to the property, unless they have decided that they do not doubt that you own it. The Land Registry need to be cautious, not only to ensure that none of the evidence has been forged, but also because evidence of owning a property can look the same as someone renting an unregistered property and fraudulently claiming ownership.
When deeds are available, the title given is ‘absolute’, meaning there is no question as to ownership. With a possessory title, this only proves that you have possessed the property for at least 12 years. Still, any rights or covenants affecting the land are unknown, and third parties could come along in the future to claim they have the benefit of a right, or that a covenant has been breached. A possessory title is typically acceptable for selling or mortgaging the property. Still, the buyer or lender will likely require a one-off ‘indemnity policy’ to be purchased to cover the risks.
How and when can ownership be upgraded?
If you can register the property with a possessory title successfully, then after 10 years of this being registered, you can apply to upgrade the title to ‘absolute’.
Otherwise, if the original deeds are ever found, these must be sent to the Land Registry, and they will update the title to ‘absolute’ ownership and note the details of any rights and covenants in the Register.
Giving you the full picture
If you have lost your title deeds, or if you are still safely holding them and need help in making an application to HM Land Registry to register your property for the first time, our expert legal team would be glad to assist you.
