10th July 2024 ❘ Legal News and Commentary
Agribusiness FAQs – What is the difference between unregistered and registered land?
Agribusiness FAQs – What is the difference between unregistered and registered land?
The term ‘unregistered land’ is used to describe any land that is not registered with HM Land Registry and ‘registered land’ relates to land that is registered with HM Land Registry.
Before legislation regarding registration of land was enacted, all land was unregistered.
This meant that owners of land were required to keep deeds and documentation relating to their ownership safe, in order to produce them should they wish to dispose of the land or should any dispute arise.
Ownership was evidenced through the presentation of the deeds and documents. Clearly, this could prove to be problematic if an owner mislaid their deeds and documents, or they were destroyed through flooding or a fire for example.
In 1990, it was compulsory across the whole country for land to be registered upon ‘dealing with’ or ‘disposing of’ land. Later legislation, the Land Registration Act 2002, further expanded upon the triggers requiring registration of land.
Registration is now compulsory where you have:
- Mortgaged the land
- Inherited it
- Been gifted it
- Bought it, or
- Received the land in exchange for other land or property
Even where the above triggers apply, a person is able to register their land through a voluntary application to the Land Registry.
More than 80% of land is now registered since legislation came into force.
If you’d like further advice on Agribusiness matters you can contact our Agribusiness team here.