The Land Registry: what is it?

For all those of you who feel confused on land registry issues here there is a brief overview of its services on how to deal with them.

What is a land registry?

The Land Registry is a government department that issue a physical title document including the characteristic data concerning a land tax or a specific property unit owned by natural persons or legal entities. All data, registered in Land Registry, the public register office that allows citizens to get information about the value, history and potential risks of millions of properties, are authentic and have also developed a number of other useful data.

The Land Registry is also responsible for keeping and maintaining the register on freehold properties.

Source: Landregistry.gov.uk (Official website)

How to request a land registry document?

Any document held by Land Registry can be sorted in many useful ways, allowing citizens to easily obtain cadastral surveys at the provincial and national levels, also starting from the address identification of a building, from its cadastral reference or code.
The data being reported on a cadastral map might be different depending on whether the ground or a housing unit are divided into identifying information and data class.

The most common documents required for every registered property are:

• Title Register, which provides the description of the property as well as the date of the registration of the current ownership and the details of all registered charges and leases;
• Title Plan, which shows the general extent of the property;
• Pending Applications List, which contains  the details of all the pending registrations and official searches against the property;
• Registered Old Deeds, that are digital copies of old historical documents showing ownership, as well as rights, obligations, or mortgages on the property;
• Residential Drainage and Water Search (CON29DW), a report providing up-to-date information on water supply, the status of sewer connection and billing arrangements
• Flood Risk Report, a report indicating whether or not a property and its surrounding area could be affected by flooding and if flood defences are in place.

You can even find online several reliable agencies that will help you to prepare the whole documentation before addressing to the Land Registry; they also offer extensive consulting services regarding all land registry issues.

What is the difference between a land registry and a mortgage land registry?

As already mentioned the land registry is a document issued by the Land Registry office that lists the property owned by a person or company (lands and buildings), showing the various characteristic data and tax rates of the same. The mortgage land registry survey is technical and administrative report following an inspection of the property, which helps to determine whether the property provides adequate security for a remortgage.