The process of registered land or property in England
Registration of land or property is the first thing that you should consider while buying it. Despite the bumpy roads for the economy, property purchase in England is returning to the normal routine. Investment in property demands a big amount that is your hard-earned money. It should be protected with due legal formalities; otherwise, your thousands and millions of pounds get wasted.
Why is registration important?
- What if someone else takes unauthorized control over your property/land?
- What if you come to know years later that the place under your name is not for the purpose that you are using it for?
IMAGINE – A land for agriculture used that was sold to you as residential land. It is a complete fraud. Isn’t it?
- Why take the risk?
- Follow the due manner of property buying and your investment can be safe forever. Registration is vital, and it has to be done with due process.
- To get a mortgage also, you need to register. The lenders do not take the risk of lending money on an anonymous piece of property.
The procedure
Here is a step-by-step mention of how things work when you register land or property.
- Search for previous registration of the same property
To avoid a fraud deal, you need to make sure, if the land/building is already registered. If it is, you cannot buy it, and legally it cannot be transferred to your name. HM Land Registry keeps the information of all the properties in England and Wales.
- Apply for the registration
Once you are clear through the confirmed sources that the land is not registered, apply for the registration. The form is as long as seven pages, but the columns you need to fill are not many. Most of the part of it is filled with the information.
- Get the ‘list of documents’ form
There are a number of documents that need to be there to accompany the registry formalities. Depending on the type of property or land, the list and type of documents change. You can download it either from the government site or can take in the paper form from the concerned department office.
- The FEE part should be clear with calculator
You should know that the fee part depends on your property value. The fee calculator is available on the government website. Choose the application type according to the property and ownership type (freehold/leasehold) as that becomes the registry base.
Steps of fee calculator
Here are the steps that you need to follow to calculate the fee –
- Choose the application type
- Mention the transaction value
- On the same page select voluntary application status through ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
- Click on Check fee
- You will get the result that will look something like below –
The last step
The simplest step is this in which you need to send all your documents, fee, and forms to the HM Land Registry.
You need to be very careful while following the procedure. Keep the prime focus on the type of property because your form and registry type will be the same accordingly. The wrong mention of the use of the property will also snatch your chance of mortgage.
If you are taking a commercial mortgage, confirm the type of form and documents you need to provide. A mistake on this part will spoil all your plans of property buying.
Difference between a registered land and unregistered land/property
To know how important the registry is, it is necessary to see the difference between a registered and non-registered property.
| Registered land/property | Unregistered land/property |
| A registered property is easy to detect with the name of the owner.
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It is not possible to find the owner of such land or property |
| The government completely secures the owner. In case of any legal issues, the right on the property can easily be presented.
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There is no security to the owner and if someone takes unauthorized control on property prevention is difficult. |
| The land use of a registered property is decided, and nothing controversial on that part happens.
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There is no proof of land use, and nothing can be tackled if something wrong happens. |
| Tax benefits can be obtained on a registered property because it is mentioned in the government records. | Do not even think about tax benefits if the land or property is not registered in the form. For example, the interest on the buy-to-let mortgage is tax-deductible, but if the property is not registered, there is no mortgage, no tax relief.
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The above information about the registration is the generalized version of the process in England. Things are a bit different when you apply for the registry in reality. But for sure, the details are sufficient to give you an approximate idea of what happens as the procedure. For more information, you can visit on this Government link https://bit.ly/2DtpEuZ
