It is important to look at what the three principle aims of the Act are. These are explained in Parts 1 and 2 of the joint report published by the Law Commission and HM Land Registry, Land Registration for the 21st Century: A Conveyancing Revolution (2001) Law Commission Report No 2712.
- The Act creates a framework for the transformation of conveyancing from a paper-based system to one that is entirely electronic. An electronic system can only function securely and effectively where title is registered.
- The Act aims over time to create, a conclusive register, “so that it is possible to investigate title to land online, with the absolute minimum of additional enquiries and inspections”.
- Since the Land Registration Act 1988 was brought into force in 1990, registration of title has had effects that go beyond the facilitation of conveyancing. The 1988 Act made the register a public document and is an increasingly important source of information about land, land ownership and changes in the value of land. The latest development in this regard has been the re-introduction in 2000 of the entry of price paid on the register.
All in all, the Land Registration Act 2002 is a logical development in the land law regime of England and Wales. Now we must deal with what has changed and why?
The reason for electronic conveyancing is due to the facilitated execution of the documents. The benefits will be maximised only if used universally. The Act gives the Lord Chancellor power to make the use of electronic means for conveyancing compulsory. The reasons for electronic conveyancing are the following:
- to enable dispositions with a connection to land registration to be made by means of document in electronic form
- to enable registration to be made a pre-condition to effect disposition of registered land or other interests which are the subject of a notice in the register
- to enable an electronic network to be set up to carry out functions related to registration
- and finally, to provide for circumstances in which conveyancers may be required to use electronic means to complete and register transactions simultaneously.
This is all explained in a more detailed fashion in sections 91 to 95 of the Act.
The Act also has reduced the length of registrable leases from more than 21 to more than seven years, this now gives a complete and accurate reflection of the state of title. Commercial property falls largely outside of the scope of the current land registration system, and only leases for more than 21 years are registrable. This means that most commercial property remains unregistered. This means that with e-conveyancing in the near future, an old-style paper system would have to run alongside it and this would be complicated. That is why the Act has reduced the qualifying period to seven years. The Lord Chancellor has the power to drop this even further to perhaps even only three years.
An important aspect that has changed is that of “overriding interest”. Under the 1925 Act, these include all the encumbrances, interests, rights and powers that are not entered on the register, but override registered dispositions under the Act. Such interests create a number of problems, since people buy estates unknowing of the problems that may be ahead. In the Act, the categories of interests, which are not registrable, appear in two distinct lists, one relevant to first registration of title, the other to dealings with registered land. In each list, they will be reduced in scope. The ambit of particular categories will narrowed, some categories will be abolished altogether, and others phased out eventually over ten years.
There are currently four methods of protecting third party rights over registered land. The caution against dealings and the inhibition will go; two will remain, but in modified form. The new regime splits interests into two camps into those protected (a) in the charges register by notice, and (b) by the entry of a restriction in the proprietorship register. A notice is simply the entry in the register of the burden of an interest affecting the land. Under the Act, one could apply for two types of notice: agreed notices, which are entered if the applicant is the registered proprietor or acts with his or her approval, and unilateral notices, entered where a caution against dealings might have been entered under the old system. A restriction operates to restrict or prevent the registration of a disposition of some kind without compliance with the terms of the restriction.
The Act also revises the arrangements for the handling of business within the Land Registry. A new system of independent adjudication of disputes arising out of disputed applications to the registrar will be set up. The Act includes provisions enabling the Registry to provide consultancy and advisory services.
The Act seeks to make the register more comprehensive, both in terms of registrations, and information set out on those registers. Here, the register means the entire register of titles, which is currently 18 million registrations. One of the country’s main landowners, the Crown, has previously been unable to register its landholdings, as demesne land does not consist of either a freehold or leasehold estate. The Act allows the Crown to grant itself a fee simple, which can then be registered.
The Act addresses the major concern for conveyancers that has been the limitation of powers for prospective sellers. Legal title will pass to the buyer notwithstanding that the seller’s powers have been exceeded.
Finally, the status of three types of interest affecting registered land has been clarified: rights of pre-emption, equities arising by estoppel, and “mere equities”. In each of these cases, the interest is one that binds successors from the date that the interest was created or on which it arises.
To conclude, it is obvious that the Act is extremely different from the LRA 1925, it is much improved and modernised and deals with any problems that previous Acts have had. On the whole, it is a much better system, and has answered many questions. It is difficult to determine what the effects will be in the future, and how long it will be before this legislation is changed, however, for the time being, it will revolutionise the Land Registry system of today.
Bibliography
Electronic Sources:
www. westlaw. co. uk
www. lawtel. co. uk
Journals:
[2002] New Law Journal Vol. 152 No. 7041 P. 1093 - 1095
[2002] New Law Journal Vol. 152 No. 7042 P. 1145 – 1147
Landlord and Tenant Review 2002, 6(3), 51-54 – Charles Harpum
LRA 2002 Explanatory Notes from Westlaw Online
Legislation:
The Land Registration Act 2002
The Land Registration Act 1925
Books:
Land Law - MacKenzie and Phillips, 8th Edition
Land Law - Dixon, 4th Edition
Word Count: 1,422
![The Land Registration Act 2002[1] came into force on the 13th October 2003.](https://mbt-essays-prod-public.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/91430/listing/91430_1.jpg)
