Registration Of Title Of Land - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition registration-of-title-of-land

Definition :

Registration of title of land. The (English) Land Registration Act, 1925 (15 Geo. 5, c. 21), repeals and re-enacts the (English) Land Transfer Acts, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 87) and 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c. 65), with amendments in keeping with innovations which were introduced by the property laws of 1925. Its object is to simplify the indicia of land ownership and transfer by mere inscription and transcription in a register. The advantages which are claimed for the system are (a) purchasers for value of an absolute or good leasehold title are absolved from any inquiry into the title other than it is shown to be on the register; (b) certain equitable claims which would be binding on the land under the general law and cannot be removed or over-reached without onerous formalities do not affect such purchasers; (c) the method of conveyance or charge is simple; (d) subject to the statutory provisions, registration guarantees the title to purchasers for value and mortgagees. It should be observed that mines and minerals which have been excepted from a grant of land are not guaranteed unless separately registered. All registered land, irrespectively of the nature of title, remains subject to 'over-riding interests.' See below, notwithstand-ing registration.

All estates and interests in land which come under the description of 'legal estates' in s. 3 of the L. R. Act, 1925, and ss. 1 and 205 of the (English) Law of Property Act, 1925, may, and in districts where registration is compulsory must, as a rule be registered except leaseholds having not more than 21 years unexpired, and except all mortgage terms where there is a subsisting right of redemption (see s. 8, (English) Land Registration Act, 1925). But the latter exception has little practical importance, for the reasons that charges, which for all practical purposes are equivalent to a mortgage, may be registered under s. 25 of the (English) L.R. Act, 1925 (see s. 27, ibid. and see ss. 86 and 87 of the (English) Law of Property Act, 1925).

Registration is compulsory in the counties of London, Middlesex (q.v.), County Borough of Eastbourne (Order in Council, S.R. & O., 1926, No. 1262, as from 1st January, 1925), and County Borough of Hastings (O. C., 1928, No. 253, as from 1st January, 1929). Compulsory registration may be introduced in any county or part of a county by Order in Council at the instance of a county, or county borough council, or otherwise (see ss. 120 et seq.). In a compulsory area, land may but need not be registered until, in the case of freehold land, a sale takes place, and in the case of leasehold land, a grant or sale of a term there out having not less than forty years to run is effected. The penalty for not registering land in a compulsory area within two months from the date of conveyance is that the purchaser will not acquire the legal estate, and until that takes place the purchaser is open to the risk of the vendor establishing or perfecting equities against him and even fradulently conveying the same land to another purchaser, who may obtain a perfect title if he registers his conveyance before the prior purchaser.

Freehold land may be registered with absolute, qualified, or possessory title, leaseholds of which more than twenty-one years are still unexpired, with absolute, qualified, good leasehold, or possessory title. Registration with absolute title, of either tenure, confers on purchasers for value all the advantages referred to. Registration with qualified title is granted where it appears to the registrar that the title can only be established for a limited period or subject to reservations. Registra-tion in this form is seldom effected. Registration with possessory title gives the registered proprietor no guarantee of title other than the registered title for what that may be worth, nor does it absolve a purchaser from inquiring into the vendor's title under the general law prior to registration [ss. 6 and 20 (3)]. But a possessory registered title confers on the registered proprietor and purchasers from him all the advantages of registration in respect of matters arising subsequently to registration, and further, under s. 77, the registrar may change the possessory in to absolute title under the statutory conditions if the land was registered before the 1st January, 1926, or, if first registered after that date the title has been possessory for fifteen years. [(English) Law of Property Act, 1925, s. 172]

The same incidents, according to the quality of the title, attach to registered leaseholds to the extent of the term and estate which has been registered.

Registration with 'good leasehold' title confers the same privileges and is subject to the same incumbrances and interests (if any) as registration with 'absolute' title, except that 'good leasehold' does not include a guarantee of the lease itself. Registration with qualified title is the same as 'absolute' but without prejudice to any excepted rights appearing on the register. Registration with possessory title gives such privileges as are conferred on possessory titles of freeholds and no more to the extent of the registered leasehold estate.

A purchaser for value of registered land with any title but possessory is not affected by trusts, express, implied, or constructive (s. 74). A possessory title is affected by trusts arising prior to the first registration, of which the purchaser has actual or constructive notice either upon investigation of title or otherwise if these trusts have not been over-reached upon conveyance under the (English) Law of Property or Settled Land Acts, 1925.

The incumbrances and other liabilities to which all registered land is subject are:-

(a) All entered on the register at the time of first registration.

(b) Those entered subsequently to the first registration.

(i) Charges (s. 25).

(ii) Notices of leases (s. 48).

(iii) Annuities and rent charges (s. 49).

(iv) Severence of mines and minerals (s. 49).

(v) Land charges under the (English) Land Charges Act, 1925 (ss. 3, 49 and 59, L.R. Act).

(vi) Widow's rights.

(vii) Notices by creditors and others (ss. 49, 59 and 61).

(viii) Restrictive covenants (s. 50).

(ix) Manorial incidents (s. 51).

(x) Certain over-riding incidents [s. 70 (3)].

(xi) Notice of lien by deposit of certificate (s. 66).

(xii) Priority notices (s. 88).

(xiii) Notices to a sole trustee of registered land (s. 99).

The priority of these incumbrances is regulated by the date of entry on the Land Register. It should be observed that registration under the (English) Land Charges Act, 1925, does not affect registered land [see s. 110 (7) L.R. Act, and (English) Land Charges Act, 1925, s. 23 (1)], except local land charges, which obtain priority according to the date of registration in the local register. Under the Land Charges Act, s. 15 (8), incumbrances are protected (1) by means of caution or restriction against the registered proprietor (ss. 54 and 58). Strictly speaking, cautions and restrictions are not incumbrances on the land, but they serve to give the persons entitled time to assert their rights, if any. (2) By entry or notice of the incumbrance (s. 79 and (English) L.R.R. 1925, 190); on the charges register (s. 25). (3) In addition to these, s. 57 confers a remedy styled inhibition, which is analogous to an injunction. As to bankruptcy, s. 61 and (English) L.R.R. 1925, 229, provide for bankruptcy and priority inhibitions.

A large number of incumbrances in the usual and even the legal sense of the term are protected by law and are not prejudiced or affected by registration of the land under the (English) L.R. Act, 1925. Such incumbrances are included in the term 'overriding interests,' a list of which is given in s. 70. Rights to mines and minerals are overriding interests on land registered before 1898, and so are all such rights if created before first registration of the land after 1898, and before 1926. Mines and minerals in respect of land registered after 1925 are now included in the word 'land' by the Act, subject to its provisions. Persons interested in the transfer or charge of registered land should be careful to make all proper inquiries outside the Land Registry in regard to the many important incumbrances, claims, charges and other matters included in the list contained in s. 70.

Claims by beneficiaries and others which would be over-reached upon sale by trustees for sale or under the (English) Settled Land Act, 1925, or otherwise as provided by the (English) Law of Property Act, 1925 (see s. 2, ibid.), are not over-riding interests and are classed among minor interests [see ss. 3 (xv.), 101 to 103, 105], and being equitable will be over-ridden by a registered disposition for value subject to the entries on the register. A purchaser for value is not concerned with anything not appearing on the register, but, as between minor interests, those interests, which, if the (English) Law of Property Acts, 1922 and 1925, had not been passed, would have been legal estates, have priority over other minor interests, and as regards dealings effected after 1925 between assignees and incumbrancers of life interests, remainders, reversions and executory interests, priority is established by order of special priority cautions or inhibitions, noted in a 'Minor Interests Index,' which does not concern a purchaser of the land from a registered proprietor. Death duties after 1925, even if registered, do not affect a purchaser for money or money's worth of registered land, but with that exception they affect the registered proprietor and the land if entered on the register (see s. 73).

On first registration the first registered proprietor of any land is affected by all minor interests of which he has notice under the general law, and subsequent registered proprietors not being purchasers for value are under the same liability in regard to minor interests which affected the registered proprietor at the time of transfer to them [s. 20 (4)].

Upon registration the proprietor becomes entitled to the issue to him of a certificate called the 'Land Certificate' or Charge Certificate, as the case may be, which is evidence of the matters appearing therein (s. 58). The land certificate is conclusive evidence of the state of the register up to the time but not later than the date of its last issue from the registry. Subsequent entries (if any) are ascertained by inquiry at the Land Registry. The certificate must, as a rule, be produced by any person requiring an entry or notice on the register, and must be produced at the registry and endorsed on every important dealing by the proprietor (see s. 64). The register is in three parts:-

1. The property register, or parcels by reference to the Land Registry General Map or to a filed plan.

2. The proprietorship register, stating the nature of the title, e.g., absolute, good leasehold, possessory, etc., and the name and description of the registered proprietor.

3. The charges register, notifying incumbrances, e.g., registrable leases, and charges, mortgages, restrictive covenants, etc.

as a rule (see (English) L.R. Rules, 1925, 287 to 297), no one but the proprietor of the land or of any charge or incumbrance thereon may inspect any entry on the register or any document in the custody of the registrar without authority of the proprietor of the land or any such charge or incumbrance. Any person authorized to inspect may apply for an official search against the title, charge or incumbrance, and obtain a certificate of the result from the registrar. The certificate is conclusive and comprehensive of all registered matters affecting the title or object of search. The search at the Land Registry is more conveniently practical for intending purchasers or incumbrancers than a search under the Land Charges Act, 1925, which must be made by reference to the names of proprietors and incumbrancers, who may be numerous and not easily identified. The search at the Land Registry is made by reference to the land registered and is made possible by the system of mapping and indexing, which has been brought to great perfection at the registry. For the practice and procedure fees and legal charges at the Land Registry, consult Fortescue-Brickdale and Steward-Wallace on the Land Registration Act, 1925.