Tale as old as (SJ) time: A history of the Land Registration Act

The Land Registration Act 1862 was one of the most innovative reforms in the history of land law. This fact is easily forgotten as it was overshadowed by the sweeping reforms of the Law of Property Act 1925 and the Land Registration Act 1925, which are widely regarded as being the foundation of our current system of holding and registering property ownership.

The joint objectives of the 1862 Act were to ensure there was a mechanism whereby indefeasible title to land could be registered and that there should be economical and efficient machinery for noting incumbrances on that title.
The Land Registry has achieved the 1862 objectives and much more.

Registration of all property transactions finally became compulsory in 1990, and today more than 80 per cent of all
land in England and Wales
is registered, rendering unnecessary the detailed
and repeated investigation of the same title on each transaction. Indeed, many practitioners would struggle to know where to begin with the investigation of an unregistered title.

Today, conveyancers simply go online for official copies of the register at £3 a shot. Title deeds locked in safe boxes have become a thing of the past, although we all struggle, still, to shred the wonderful, lovingly prepared copperplate conveyances and abstracts
of title.

The Land Registration Act 2002 presented the first major change since 1925, which brought about an innovative reform of the system of registration, access to information, and powers of the Land Registry to adjudicate on issues relating to title.

Until the passing of the Land Registration Act 2002 it was not possible to obtain title information without the consent of the registered owner or obtain historic information. We now have an 'open' register where any land can be
searched.

The priority of the Land Registry today is to be recognised as a world leader in digital delivery of land registration services and in the management and re-use of land and property data. The registry is self-funding, profitable, and value for money for consumers. It now has a monopoly on recording land and property transactions, and is earmarked by the chancellor for privatisation valued at around £1.2bn from 2017.

Given the value of the database and the open access to information in relation
to land ownership, which is
a valuable resource within the property industry, it is feared privatisation will take us full circle. Privatisation risks the situation envisaged in 1862, where title to land is governed by a non-statutory body
with a technical system
administered by an inflexible official.

There has also been widespread condemnation
of privatisation on the basis
it could threaten the state-backed guarantee on registered titles. The guarantee enables compensation for anyone
who suffers loss due to an omission or error in the register, although if the property title is only given by a private company this could hang in
the balance.

Belinda Walkinshaw is partner at SA Law @SA_Law salaw.com