Avoid problems when selling or letting your land

In recent years, the Land Registry have been encouraging land owners to register the title to their land, especially the owners of large areas such as farms and estates.

According to the latest Land Registry figures, 64% of land in England and Wales has now been registered and the Land Registry do give a 25% discount on the costs of voluntarily registering land.

The main advantage of registering your title to land is to establish this for the future ensuring that as the owner you are notified if any application for registration of a possessory title is made, for example, garden encroachments, and it can also assist in sales or dealings with land.

Land Registry plans are based on the most recent ordnance survey map data. This does not always accurately reflect the position on the ground and cannot be relied upon to determine measurements for boundaries. The Ordnance Survey have standard tolerances for the accuracy of their plans, which is generally plus or minus 1 metre to 3 metres. Land Registry plans only show the general boundaries so it is necessary to refer to other evidence, such as the original title deeds, if the exact position of the boundary needs to be ascertained.

When selling or letting part of your land, it is important that an accurate plan is prepared showing the area to be sold or to be let, including measurements if the boundary is intricate or may not be obvious on the ground.

Any land that is sold or let will usually need to be registered at the Land Registry following completion and it is therefore important that the Land Registry's requirements for plans are complied with.

Following the requirements should avoid any queries arising following completion of the transaction and any problems over the boundaries arising in the future.

For further information, please contact Sue Birnage on 01799 582300 or at suebirnage@hewitsons.com