Land Registration Act 2002
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 2002 c. 9 |
| Year | 2002 |
Land Registration Act 2002
2002 Chapter 9
An Act to make provision about land registration; and for connected purposes.
[26th February 2002]
B e it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part 1
Preliminary
1 Register of title
(1) There is to continue to be a register of title kept by the registrar.
(2) Rules may make provision about how the register is to be kept and may, in particular, make provision about—
(a) the information to be included in the register,
(b) the form in which information included in the register is to be kept, and
(c) the arrangement of that information.
2 Scope of title registration
This Act makes provision about the registration of title to—
(i) an estate in land,
(ii) a rentcharge,
(iii) a franchise,
(iv) a profit a prendre in gross, and
(v) any other interest or charge which subsists for the benefit of, or is a charge on, an interest the title to which is registered; and
(b) interests capable of subsisting at law which are created by a disposition of an interest the title to which is registered.
Part 2
First registration of title
Chapter 1
First registration
Voluntary registration
3 When title may be registered
(1) This section applies to any unregistered legal estate which is an interest of any of the following kinds—
(a) an estate in land,
(b) a rentcharge,
(c) a franchise, and
(d) a profit a prendre in gross.
(2) Subject to the following provisions, a person may apply to the registrar to be registered as the proprietor of an unregistered legal estate to which this section applies if—
(a) the estate is vested in him, or
(b) he is entitled to require the estate to be vested in him.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), an application under subsection (2) in respect of a leasehold estate may only be made if the estate was granted for a term of which more than seven years are unexpired.
(4) In the case of an estate in land, subsection (3) does not apply if the right to possession under the lease is discontinuous.
(5) A person may not make an application under subsection (2)(a) in respect of a leasehold estate vested in him as a mortgagee where there is a subsisting right of redemption.
(6) A person may not make an application under subsection (2)(b) if his entitlement is as a person who has contracted to buy under a contract.
(7) If a person holds in the same right both—
(a) a lease in possession, and
(b) a lease to take effect in possession on, or within a month of, the end of the lease in possession,
then, to the extent that they relate to the same land, they are to be treated for the purposes of this section as creating one continuous term.
Compulsory registration
4 When title must be registered
(1) The requirement of registration applies on the occurrence of any of the following events—
(a) the transfer of a qualifying estate—
(i) for valuable or other consideration, by way of gift or in pursuance of an order of any court, or
(ii) by means of an assent (including a vesting assent);
(b) the transfer of an unregistered legal estate in land in circumstances where section 171A of the Housing Act 1985 (c. 68) applies (disposal by landlord which leads to a person no longer being a secure tenant);
(c) the grant out of a qualifying estate of an estate in land—
(i) for a term of years absolute of more than seven years from the date of the grant, and
(ii) for valuable or other consideration, by way of gift or in pursuance of an order of any court;
(d) the grant out of a qualifying estate of an estate in land for a term of years absolute to take effect in possession after the end of the period of three months beginning with the date of the grant;
(e) the grant of a lease in pursuance of Part 5 of the Housing Act 1985 (the right to buy) out of an unregistered legal estate in land;
(f) the grant of a lease out of an unregistered legal estate in land in such circumstances as are mentioned in paragraph (b);
(g) the creation of a protected first legal mortgage of a qualifying estate.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a qualifying estate is an unregistered legal estate which is—
(a) a freehold estate in land, or
(b) a leasehold estate in land for a term which, at the time of the transfer, grant or creation, has more than seven years to run.
(3) In subsection (1)(a), the reference to transfer does not include transfer by operation of law.
(4) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply to—
(a) the assignment of a mortgage term, or
(b) the assignment or surrender of a lease to the owner of the immediate reversion where the term is to merge in that reversion.
(5) Subsection (1)(c) does not apply to the grant of an estate to a person as a mortgagee.
(6) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) and (c), if the estate transferred or granted has a negative value, it is to be regarded as transferred or granted for valuable or other consideration.
(7) In subsection (1)(a) and (c), references to transfer or grant by way of gift include transfer or grant for the purpose of—
(a) constituting a trust under which the settlor does not retain the whole of the beneficial interest, or
(b) uniting the bare legal title and the beneficial interest in property held under a trust under which the settlor did not, on constitution, retain the whole of the beneficial interest.
(8) For the purposes of subsection (1)(g)—
(a) a legal mortgage is protected if it takes effect on its creation as a mortgage to be protected by the deposit of documents relating to the mortgaged estate, and
(b) a first legal mortgage is one which, on its creation, ranks in priority ahead of any other mortgages then affecting the mortgaged estate.
(9) In this section—
‘land’ does not include mines and minerals held apart from the surface;
‘vesting assent’ has the same meaning as in the Settled Land Act 1925 (c. 18).
5 Power to extend section 4
(1) The Lord Chancellor may by order—
(a) amend section 4 so as to add to the events on the occurrence of which the requirement of registration applies such relevant event as he may specify in the order, and
(b) make such consequential amendments of any provision of, or having effect under, any Act as he thinks appropriate.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), a relevant event is an event relating to an unregistered legal estate which is an interest of any of the following kinds—
(a) an estate in land,
(b) a rentcharge,
(c) a franchise, and
(d) a profit a prendre in gross.
(3) The power conferred by subsection (1) may not be exercised so as to require the title to an estate granted to a person as a mortgagee to be registered.
(4) Before making an order under this section the Lord Chancellor must consult such persons as he considers appropriate.
6 Duty to apply for registration of title
(1) If the requirement of registration applies, the responsible estate owner, or his successor in title, must, before the end of the period for registration, apply to the registrar to be registered as the proprietor of the registrable estate.
(2) If the requirement of registration applies because of section 4(1)(g)—
(a) the registrable estate is the estate charged by the mortgage, and
(b) the responsible estate owner is the owner of that estate.
(3) If the requirement of registration applies otherwise than because of section 4(1)(g)—
(a) the registrable estate is the estate which is transferred or granted, and
(b) the responsible estate owner is the transferee or grantee of that estate.
(4) The period for registration is 2 months beginning with the date on which the relevant event occurs, or such longer period as the registrar may provide under subsection (5).
(5) If on the application of any interested person the registrar is satisfied that there is good reason for doing so, he may by order provide that the period for registration ends on such later date as he may specify in the order.
(6) Rules may make provision enabling the mortgagee under any mortgage falling within section 4(1)(g) to require the estate charged by the mortgage to be registered whether or not the mortgagor consents.
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