Explain and critically analyse the process under the Land Registration Act 2002 for: i) the first registration of registrable estates ii) the registration of interests created by registrable dispositions

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Question One

Explain and critically analyse the process under the Land Registration Act 2002 for:

  1. the first registration of registrable estates
  2. the registration of interests created by registrable dispositions

(i) The Land Registration Act 2002 has been exemplary in setting the rules for Land registration up to date. The newly amended act has done away with the inherent discrepancies of the act and ambiguities related to land registration. The salient highlights of the Land Registration Act 2002 harp on the simplification of procedures and have overhauled the entire system. This is one major change that has been effected in the last 75 years of history of the nation. The other major change is the inclusion of electronic conveyance. Other laws such as the law of adverse possession have undergone updates. Now after having gone through the entire Act, I firmly believe that the Act has undergone a much needed revamping and thus now it stands a much more standardized and more than anything else a modernized one.

In this regard, what is of particular importance is the first registration of registrable estates. The new set of regulations for the first registration of registrable includes transfer of a freehold estate of land, transfer of an existing leasehold estate of land, grant of a new leasehold estate of land and first legal mortgage. But this rule does not apply to the mines and minerals under the surface and incorporeal hereditaments.

The transfer of a freehold estate of land involves the transfer through any of the following processes.

  • For any consideration of value
  • As a gift to someone
  • As partition of land
  • By way of assent

The abovementioned ways of transfer of freehold estates hold true and are to be strictly abided by. Now so far as my interpretation of this part of the act is concerned, the implications of transfer through these ways signify that either one has to purchase it or be gifted by someone or receive the land vide some partition of an existing estate or someone should consent to its being transferred to the transferee. Almost the same applies for the leaseholds as well. In this case though, the only difference being the appointment of a trustee. Also in case of leaseholds, one has to register in case he/she ceases to be a tenant and the time for which one wants to register does not matter. Moreover, one anyways ceases to be a tenant once one has registered. As far as transfer of registration of new leasehold of land is concerned, it is mandatory mentioned to be over a span of seven years. Also, the registration has to be done within 3 months of taking possession of the land.

 

In the case of first mortgages, to the best of my understanding the rule includes any mortgage that is taken for more than 7 years. Once registered, it becomes a protected first legal mortgage and the benefit one derives from this is that these mortgages get priority over all other types of mortgages. The concepts of voluntary registration and anticipatory registration have been introduced for the benefit of the common people. Here the idea is that in case one is not sure about the title, one can register anticipatorily thereby claiming the title of the land and this in addition to a land title indemnity insurance policy will be sufficient for the claim of the land. So I believe people who fear loss of important documents or any ambiguity regarding the title of the land can take stock of the situation through the application of this policy.

(ii)  A registrable disposition refers to the transfer or creation of important interests of estates that are already registered. It is only applicable once it is registered. This is a mandatory part in any sale of estate and one must undergo this process in order to complete the transaction process. For example, if Tom sells an estate of land to Jerry, the sale thereby made is subject to registrable disposition and will not be complete unless it is registered and it is only then that Jerry will get the legal title to the estate.

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In this context, I feel the role of interest becomes very important. A registrable disposition, as said before, is binding on the part of the parties involved in the purchase of the estate. The interest has to be registered and there are only some cases under which the interest is not part of registrable disposition. In this case, it fails to be a part of the notice. In other cases, as in the case of overriding interests, the entire responsibility is of the purchaser of the land. This, according to me, means that in those situations where there is ...

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