17.3 Registered and Unregistered Title
Key Takeaways
- Freeholds and leaseholds with more than seven years unexpired can be substantively registered under LRA 2002 ss.2–3.
- A registered purchaser for valuable consideration takes subject to entries on the register and to Schedule 3 overriding interests (LRA 2002 s.29).
- Beneficial interests under a trust cannot be protected by notice (LRA 2002 s.33(a)); use a restriction, and watch actual occupation under Schedule 3 paragraph 2.
- In unregistered land, most post-1925 equitable interests must be registered as land charges against the estate owner's name or they are void against a purchaser for money or money's worth.
- The doctrine of notice still matters in unregistered land for interests that are not land charges, especially beneficial interests that have not been overreached.
Two title systems still operate in England and Wales. Most titles are now registered under the Land Registration Act 2002. Pockets of unregistered land remain, and first-registration events are still everyday conveyancing. The FLK2 specification asks which estates can be substantively registered, how interests are protected, which interests override, and — for unregistered land — the role of title deeds, land charges, and the doctrine of notice.
Estates that can be substantively registered
LRA 2002 sections 2 and 3 identify the legal estates that may be registered with their own title number. The workhorses are:
- a freehold estate in land; and
- a leasehold estate with more than seven years unexpired at the date of the application.
Certain other interests (including a rentcharge, a franchise, and a profit à prendre in gross) are also capable of substantive registration. A five-year legal lease is not given its own title. It may still bind as an overriding interest, but it is not substantively registered.
Compulsory first registration is triggered by LRA 2002 section 4 events affecting a qualifying estate (an unregistered legal freehold, or an unregistered legal lease with more than seven years unexpired). The main triggers are:
| Event | First registration? |
|---|---|
| Transfer of a qualifying estate for value, by gift, by court order, or by assent | Yes |
| Grant of a lease for a term of more than seven years out of a qualifying estate | Yes — the new lease, and it also brings the reversion in |
| Grant of a lease to take effect in possession more than three months after the date of grant | Yes, even if the term is seven years or less |
| Creation of a protected first legal mortgage of a qualifying estate | Yes — the estate charged must be registered |
| Grant of a five-year lease taking effect immediately in possession | No — not a section 4 trigger and not substantively registrable |
The duty to apply is in section 6. The usual period is two months. If the application is not made, section 7 makes the transfer void as regards the legal estate. The transferee is left with an equitable title; the transferor holds the legal estate on a bare trust until registration is completed (the period can be extended).
Once a title is registered, later registrable dispositions under section 27 (transfer, grant of a lease for more than seven years, express legal easement, legal charge, and others) do not operate at law until completed by registration.
Classes of title and the three registers
HM Land Registry titles usually show three registers:
- Property register — description of the land, estate, and benefits (for example, a registered easement).
- Proprietorship register — the registered proprietor, class of title, and restrictions.
- Charges register — burdens: mortgages, notices of covenants, easements, and other adverse entries.
| Class of title | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Absolute | The strongest class; the registrar considers the title safe |
| Possessory | Based on possession where deeds are missing or the title is otherwise incomplete; often later upgraded |
| Qualified | Registration is subject to a specified defect |
| Good leasehold | Used for some leases where the freehold reversion has not been deduced |
How to protect interests on the register
For a later purchaser for valuable consideration, LRA 2002 section 29 is the engine. That purchaser takes the estate free of unprotected interests except:
- interests noted on the register; and
- overriding interests in Schedule 3.
Two entry types do different jobs:
| Entry | Where it appears | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Notice (ss.32–39) | Charges register | Protects the priority of an interest. An agreed or unilateral notice does not guarantee that the interest is valid |
| Restriction (ss.40–47) | Proprietorship register | Regulates how a disposition may be registered (for example, no capital-money disposition by a sole proprietor unless two trustees receive the money) |
A Form A restriction is the standard protection for an equitable tenancy in common: it forces overreaching machinery on a sale. Section 33(a) forbids a notice in respect of an interest under a trust of land. Beneficiaries therefore use a restriction, actual occupation, or both — never a notice of the beneficial interest itself.
Restrictive covenants, estate contracts, equitable easements, and Home Rights under the Family Law Act 1996 are classic notice candidates. A legal charge is substantively registered, not merely noted.
Overriding interests versus interests that need a register entry
Schedule 1 lists unregistered interests that override first registration. Schedule 3 lists those that override a later registered disposition. Schedule 3 is narrower. The FLK2 favourites in Schedule 3 are:
| Paragraph | Interest | Exam points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Short legal leases of seven years or less | Not every short lease: a reversionary lease taking effect more than three months after grant is excluded |
| 2 | Interest of a person in actual occupation | Relates only to the land actually occupied; two statutory exceptions |
| 3 | Certain legal easements and profits | Not equitable easements. The right must be obvious on a reasonably careful inspection, known to the purchaser, or exercised within the year before the disposition |
Schedule 3 paragraph 2 is the occupation gateway used in Williams & Glyn's Bank Ltd v Boland. It does not protect the occupier if inquiry was made of that person before the disposition and they failed to disclose the right when they could reasonably have been expected to do so. It also fails if occupation would not have been obvious on a reasonably careful inspection and the purchaser had no actual knowledge of the interest.
Occupation is a question of fact. Temporary absence with an intention to return and visible signs of occupation can still count (Link Lending Ltd v Bustard). Occupation must exist at the moment of the disposition; a person who only arrives as the charge is completed may fail (Abbey National Building Society v Cann). If capital money is paid to two trustees, overreaching under LPA 1925 sections 2 and 27 converts the beneficiary's rights into rights in the proceeds. Overreaching defeats a Boland occupation claim (City of London Building Society v Flegg).
Legal easements created by implied grant, prescription, or statute are the usual paragraph 3 candidates, because an express legal easement over registered land should have been completed by registration under section 27. Equitable easements need a notice; they do not ride through paragraph 3.
Local land charges continue to override (they are searched separately). Do not confuse them with Land Charges Act entries used in unregistered land.
Unregistered title: deeds, land charges, and notice
Until first registration, ownership is proved by title deeds. The seller deduced title by an epitome of title: a chronological list of documents, typically starting from a good root at least 15 years old (LPA 1969 section 23). The buyer checked that each link transferred the same legal estate, that executions were valid, and that there were no gaps.
Legal interests in unregistered land generally bind the world. The main exception is a puisne mortgage: a legal mortgage not protected by deposit of the title deeds. That must be registered as a Class C(i) land charge, or it will not bind a later purchaser.
Most equitable interests created after 1925 must be entered on the Land Charges Register under the Land Charges Act 1972 (LCA 1972), against the name of the estate owner (not the address). Name searches are unforgiving if a version of the name is missed (Diligent Finance Co Ltd v Alleyne).
| Class | Typical interest |
|---|---|
| C(i) | Puisne mortgage |
| C(iii) | General equitable charge |
| C(iv) | Estate contract (including an option to purchase) |
| D(ii) | Restrictive covenant created after 1925 (not a covenant between landlord and tenant) |
| D(iii) | Equitable easement created after 1925 |
| F | Family Law Act home rights |
If a registrable land charge is not registered, LCA 1972 section 4 makes it void against a purchaser of the legal estate for money or money's worth. Actual knowledge does not save it. Midland Bank Trust Co Ltd v Green is the warning: an unregistered estate contract failed against a purchaser who knew of it and paid a nominal but real price.
Interests that are not land charges still depend on the doctrine of notice. The main surviving examples are beneficial interests under a trust of land and some pre-1926 equities. A purchaser of a legal estate for value takes free if they had no actual, constructive, or imputed notice. Constructive notice is what would have been discovered by a reasonably prudent inspection of the land and the deeds. Imputed notice is the knowledge of the purchaser's agent. If the purchaser pays capital money to two trustees, overreaching still strips the beneficial interests off the land even if the beneficiaries were in occupation and the purchaser knew.
Cautions against first registration can protect a claim while land remains unregistered and an application for first registration is a risk. They are not a substitute for a land charge where LCA 1972 applies.
In practice
You act for a buyer of registered freehold. Official copies show no notice of an equitable easement and no Form A restriction. A woman answers the door and says she "lives here with her partner." Stop. Make inquiry of the occupier. If she has a beneficial interest and remains in actual occupation, Schedule 3 paragraph 2 may bind your client even though the beneficial interest cannot appear as a notice. If instead you are buying unregistered land and the seller's sibling has an unregistered C(iv) estate contract, actual knowledge will not save that contract against your purchaser client — but you must still report the fact, because completing in the face of a known claim can raise professional-conduct problems even where the statutory priority rule is favourable.
The owner of unregistered freehold grants a five-year legal lease taking effect immediately in possession, with no premium. Does this grant trigger compulsory first registration, and can the lease be substantively registered?
A registered freehold is held in one name. The proprietor's partner contributed to the purchase price, lives in the house, and would have been obvious on inspection. A buyer pays full value and is registered. No inquiry is made of the occupier and there is no restriction. Capital money is paid to the sole proprietor. Which statement is the best analysis?
A father grants his daughter an option to purchase his unregistered freehold farm. The option is not registered as a land charge. The father later conveys the legal estate to his wife for a nominal but real cash sum. The wife knows about the option. Is the option binding on the wife?
A neighbour is granted a restrictive covenant over a registered freehold. The covenantee wants the burden to bind a later purchaser for valuable consideration. What is the correct protection?