HM Land Registry facts for kids
| Welsh: Cofrestrfa Dir Ei Mawrhydi | |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1861 |
| Type | non-ministerial government department |
| Jurisdiction | England and Wales |
| Employees | 6,393 (as at 2021[update]) |
| Agency executive |
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His Majesty's Land Registry is a special government department in the UK. It was set up in 1862. Its main job is to keep official records of who owns land and buildings in England and Wales. This helps make sure that buying and selling property is safe and clear.
The Land Registry works independently and used to get no money from the government. Instead, it charged fees for its services. Today, it gets a budget from the government, but the fees it charges help cover its costs. The current head is Simon Hayes, who is the Chief Land Registrar and CEO.
Other parts of the UK have similar offices. In Scotland, it's called the Registers of Scotland. For Northern Ireland, Land and Property Services handles these records.
Contents
What the Land Registry Does
HM Land Registry records who owns property. It has one of the biggest property databases in Europe. At one point in 2007, property worth £1 million was processed every minute in England and Wales!
Just like similar groups in other countries, the Land Registry makes sure that the ownership (called "title") of land and property is guaranteed. It records who owns freehold properties (where you own the land forever). It also records leasehold properties, which are like long-term rentals, if the lease is for more than seven years.
When we talk about "land," it can mean more than just the ground. It also includes buildings on the land. Sometimes, different parts of a building, like flats on different floors, can be owned by different people. The Land Registry can also record who owns mines and minerals underground. Even airspace above a property can be registered if it's owned separately.
The Land Registry offers online access to its database. This database shows who owns properties and any "charges" (like mortgages) on them. It also has maps of properties. You usually need to pay a small fee to look up some of this information.
If a property isn't already registered, owners can choose to register it. By March 2016, about 88% of the land in England and Wales was registered. Registering land helps protect owners from people trying to claim their property illegally. It also means you don't need to find old paper documents every time a property is sold.
Why Land Registration is Good
The Land Registry says that registering your property has many benefits:
- Clear Ownership: It clearly shows who owns a property. It creates an easy-to-read document that replaces many old paper deeds. This makes buying and selling property simpler and can save money.
- Easy Access: All ownership details are kept in the Land Registry's database. This means you don't need to keep old, sometimes hard-to-read, paper deeds. You can quickly and safely view the register online.
- Better Protection: Registering your property is a great way to keep it safe. The government backs this registration, which gives you stronger protection against people trying to claim your land.
When you register a property, you also get a "Title Plan." This plan shows the land on an Ordnance Survey map. It's still important to keep your original old deeds. They can help if you ever need to figure out the exact boundaries of your property.
Besides recording ownership, the Land Registry is also helpful for people who invest in property. They can use its online tools to check the latest property prices. The government also uses this data to figure out property values for tax reasons.
Land Registry Offices
HM Land Registry has 14 offices across England and Wales. These are located in: Birkenhead, Coventry, Croydon, Durham, Fylde (Warton), Gloucester, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Swansea, Telford and Weymouth.
The main Head Office for HM Land Registry is in Croydon. The team that handles IT (Information Systems) and Land Charges is based in Plymouth.
Over the years, the Land Registry has changed its office locations. In 2006, some offices merged or closed to make things more efficient. Later, around 2009, during an economic slowdown, property sales and mortgages dropped. This meant the Land Registry faced financial losses for the first time in many years. They suggested closing more offices.
After discussions, the Croydon and Peterborough offices stayed open. However, other offices in Portsmouth, Tunbridge Wells, and Stevenage did close. The Head Office moved from its famous Lincoln's Inn Fields building in London to Croydon in 2011.
How the Land Registry is Organized
Each local office has a team of managers and lawyers. They also have staff who process applications from legal professionals and the public.
In the past, people sent applications to the office that covered their property's area. But since 2009, many customers work with special teams. These teams handle all their applications, no matter where the property is. Since 2014, all paper applications from the public are processed at the Citizen Centre in the Land Registry Wales Office.
The whole organization is led by the Chief Land Registrar, who is also the Chief Executive. They get help from the HM Land Registry Board and an executive board. The main board decides the overall plans for the department. The executive board then carries out the yearly plan and manages daily operations.
Since December 1990, the Land Register has been open to everyone. For a fee, anyone can look at the register. You can find out who owns a registered property or get a copy of its ownership details. This can also be done online.
The Land Registry has won awards for its excellent service. About 97% of its customers say their service is good or excellent. If someone has a complaint, there's an independent reviewer to help.
Dealing with Disputes
If there was a disagreement about a Land Registry application, it used to be handled by an independent office called the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry. This office was created in 2002.
However, since July 2013, these types of disputes are now handled by the Land Registration division of the Property Chamber. This is part of a larger court system called the First-tier Tribunal.
History of Land Registration
In 1857, a group called the Royal Commission suggested a system for registering land ownership. This led to the Land Registry Act 1862. This law allowed for the registration of freehold and long leasehold properties.
The first Chief Land Registrar, Brent Spencer Follett, opened the first Land Registry office in London on October 15, 1862. He had only six staff members.
At first, registering property was not required. Even if a property was registered, later sales didn't have to be recorded. This caused problems. So, the Land Transfer Act 1875 was created. This act forms the basis of the system used today. But still, registration wasn't compulsory.
A report on Germany's land registration system by Sir Charles Brickdale was very important. In 1897, the Land Transfer Act 1897 was passed. This law started to make registration compulsory in some areas. London was one of the first places to adopt it between 1899 and 1902. This led to the Land Registry growing. Around this time, the first female staff were hired, and typewriters were introduced.
From 1905 to 1913, new Land Registry headquarters were built in Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Two important laws about land were passed in 1925: the Law of Property Act 1925 and the Land Registration Act 1925. Compulsory registration was paused for ten years. But some towns, like Eastbourne (1926) and Hastings (1929), chose to make it compulsory themselves. After the ten years, it spread to Middlesex (1937) and Croydon (1939). Plans to extend it to Surrey in 1940 were stopped because of World War II. In 1925, the government thought all of England and Wales would be registered by 1955, but it took much longer.
In 1940, after its London office was damaged in an air raid, the Land Registry moved to Bournemouth to keep working. In 1950, 88 years after it started, the Land Registry recorded its one millionth property.
After the war, more people owned property, which meant more properties needed to be registered. This slowed down the process. To handle the extra work, new offices opened in Tunbridge Wells (1955) and Lytham St. Annes (1957). In 1963, 101 years after it began, the registry recorded its two millionth property.
Theodore Ruoff, who became Chief Land Registrar in 1963, explained three key ideas of Land Registration:
- The mirror principle: The register should show everything important about the property's ownership, clearly and accurately.
- The curtain principle: The register should be the only place buyers need to look for information, but it shouldn't show private details.
- The insurance principle: If there's a mistake and someone loses money because of it, they should be able to get compensation.
Many new offices opened in the following decades to handle the growing workload.
Before computers, land registers were not public. Staff had to type everything and draw maps by hand. Copies were also made by hand and sewn into large certificates. These certificates were important proof of ownership, and changing them was a crime.
In 1986, the Plymouth Office was the first to start creating registers using computers. This made the process much faster. In 1990, compulsory registration was finally brought to all of England and Wales. That year, the ten millionth property was registered, and the Land Register was opened for public viewing for the first time.
Even though registration was compulsory, it only happened when a property was sold. To speed up registration, new reasons for registering were added in 1998. These included giving land as a gift or using land to get a mortgage.
The Land Registration Act 2002 kept most of the system the same. But it also made it possible to use electronic signatures to transfer and register property in the future. Because of this act, the old paper certificates are no longer issued.
In 2005, a new, modern office for the Information Systems department opened in Plymouth.
Chief Land Registrars
- Brent Spencer Follett (1862–1886)
- Robert Hallet Holt (1886–1900)
- Sir Charles Fortescue Brickdale (1900–1923)
- Sir John Stewart Stewart-Wallace (1923–1941)
- Rouxville Mark Lowe (1941–1947)
- Sir George Harold Curtis (1947–1963)
- Theodore Burton Fox Ruoff (1963–1974)
- Robert Burnell Roper (1974–1983)
- Eric John Pryer (1983–1990)
- John Manthorpe (1990–1996)
- Stuart John Hill (1996–1999)
- Peter Collis (1999–2010)
- Marco Pierleoni (2010–2011)
- Malcolm Dawson (2011–2013)
- Ed Lester (2013–2015)
- Graham Farrant (2015–2018)
- Mike Harlow (Acting) (2018–2019)
- Simon Hayes (2019–)
Plans for Privatization
In 2014, the government thought about letting a private company handle the daily work of land registration. This company could be fully owned by the government or by a private business. The Land Registry would still be part of the government and would oversee this company. Many people, including Land Registry staff and legal experts, were against this idea.
In July 2014, the government decided not to go ahead with these changes. They felt more thought was needed.
However, in November 2015, there were reports that the government was thinking about privatizing the agency again. Some news articles pointed out that companies interested in bidding were linked to places with low taxes.
In 2016, the idea of privatization faced strong opposition. Groups like the Conveyancing Association argued that simply doubling the Land Registry's fees (which would still be a small cost for homebuyers) could increase its income. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) worried that privatization would give a private company too much control over valuable data. They thought this might make it harder for others to access the data.
The government held another public discussion about privatizing the Land Registry in 2016.
But in the 2016 Autumn Statement, the government announced its final decision. They said that HM Land Registry would stay a public organization. Its goal would be to become a more digital and data-focused registration service. This modernization would help the economy and wouldn't need a lot of government money.
See also
- Geospatial Commission
- Rural Land Register
- National Land and Property Gazetteer
- Housing in the United Kingdom
- Torrens system
