Who Owns England - is the English Land Registry Service Fit for Purpose?

On-line Land Registry is at the heart of Land Ownership in this Country. But it has a thin veil of credibility. Conveyancing Solicitors now seem to expect supporting documentation to be on line but in the majority of cases find it isn’t. Conveyancing Solicitors then go into “computer says no” mode.

Mortgage providers systematically destroy paper deeds when mortgage terms complete on the basis that the documents will be on-line at Land Registry. But there doesn’t seem to be an onus on them to check.

Carving up the countryside
AI generated image

Typical Problems

This doesn’t just prove to be an issue around absolute title; burdens and easements can also be placed on title, but without the original supporting documents the true significance of such charges is often lost. Provision is made to place source documents against these clauses in the LRoE system but in the majority of cases I’ve investigated the source documents themselves are currently not on-line.

Such problems will generally only come to light when properties are bought and sold, adding more stress to an already fraught situation. In an ever increasingly risk averse world, and faced with Land Registry’s inability to address any sort of challenge in an acceptable timescale, the conveyancing solicitor’s solution of choice is the Indemnity Policy, at the customer’s expense, rather than fixing the problem at source and forcing government to insist that Land Registry is fit for purpose.

Conveyancing Solicitors are increasingly reliant on on-line tools such as InfoTrack for quick and easy access to Land Registry data. This reliance is often misplaced due to a failure to fully appreciate the serious shortcomings with the tool’s ability to draw around boundaries that are anything other than rigidly straight. Some AI line generation software still can’t cope with the meandering nature of an English country lane it appears.

The problem is exacerbated by using the tools output at a size and scale it was never intended for. I have even seen examples of naïve conveyancing solicitors advising clients that they needed to submit adverse possession claims based on such evidence rather than applying common sense and the official output from Land Registry.

Chancel Repair Liability

Who would have thought that the actions of Thomas Cromwell might have consequences for those making house purchases in 2025? Well it turns out that they might as explained in this excellent piece.

chancel repair liability brief history

What you can do

Remember this is not formal legal advice, just my observations. Always consult a recognised expert. 

Check your deeds on line. It may cost £14 but its money well spent and may save you pain later. 

• Are deeds attached 
• Are burdens and easements supported by on line documents 
• Are dates correct 
• Is the title plan correct 
• Especially the all important red lines

If you think it needs correcting take advice. 

If you still have a mortgage write to your mortgage company and tell them you want your deeds back on mortgage completion - remember the fact that they keep them until then demonstrates they do not have faith in Land Registry. 

If your Land isn’t Registered you need to take advice. While it seems obvious to say get it registered, the time this is likely to take coupled with the likelihood of documents getting lost means that this will not be the option of choice for most level headed people.