Frequently Asked
Questions

Quite often, customers will ask if they can be sure that they are looking at the most up to date Land Registry documents available.

We obtain documents at the time the order is placed (it would be impossible for us to keep a stash of out of date documents for every registered property!), so we always send out the most up to date documents available.

The Lost Deeds Search includes an application for the Title Register and Title Plan, as if we discover the property to be registered after all, this will provide copies of the deeds for you. We often discover a property to be registered when the owner has assumed it is not or has been unable to obtain the registered documents on a previous occasion. It is sometimes the case that the property's registered documents are included on another title, and not always readily discoverable.

We often get asked this question – why does the lease have someone else’ name on it?

The answer is fairly straightforward; when you purchase a leasehold property, you do not sign a new lease. The procedure is simply that ownership of the property is transferred to the purchaser (in this case you), who becomes obligated by the terms of the original lease as if you were the original tenant.

As the terms of the lease do not change just because the property is sold, there is no reason to draw up a new lease on every sale. It would be a waste of time and your solicitor would obviously charge more for doing so. Instead your solicitor will simply have registered you as the new owner with the Land Registry, and your name will be on the Title Register. But the original lease does not get amended.

You should obtain the Title Register. This shows only subsisting entries, so if you have sold the property your name will have been removed and replaced by the new owner's name.

If you also need to show that you used to own the property you will also need to obtain a Prior Copy of the Title Register.

‘Unregistered’ with regards to a land registry search in the UK simply means that the land is not registered with HM Land Registry (in England and Wales) or Registers of Scotland (in Scotland) or the Northern Ireland Land Registry (in Northern Ireland).

It does not mean that the land is not owned by anyone, and it does not mean that the address is not valid. It simply means that the relevant land registry (which we will simply refer to as the ‘Land Registry’ from hereon) holds no information or deeds in relation to the land.

Title deeds relating to land that is unregistered will be held privately by the owner or their mortgage company, as opposed to the Land Registry who maintain title deeds in respect of registered land. There is no quick or simple way to locate the owner of a piece of unregistered land; and there is no way to compel an owner of unregistered land to show you their deeds without a court order. Put simply, dealing with unregistered land that you do not own can be very difficult.

None of the registered documents will actually show the date the property was built, but a good estimate may be obtained by looking at the Title Register and referring to the A section. This states the date upon which the property was first registered. As compulsory land registration has been around for some time now, if the property is relatively modern there is a good chance it was registered soon after it was built.