If you own or manage property in England and Wales, understanding how to register land with the Land Registry is crucial. Since 1990, registering property has been compulsory, yet even today not all land is properly documented.
For developers, property investors, and business owners, registration isn’t just about compliance - it’s about security, efficiency, and future-proofing your assets. A properly registered title simplifies transactions, protects against ownership disputes, and makes it easier to sell, lease, or develop land. In this guide, our commercial property solicitors break down the key things you need to know about land registration. We’ll cover when and why registration is required, the step-by-step process, and how legal expertise can help you avoid costly mistakes.
Jump to:
- When should you register land with the Land Registry?
- Do you need help from a solicitor to register land with the Land Registry?
- Advantages of registering land
- Registering land for the first time – the process
- Registering land without deeds
- Registering a lease
- Priority Searches
- Land Registry fees – How much does it cost to register land with the Land Registry?
When should you register land with the Land Registry?
Compulsory registration
For quite some time now in the UK, it has been a legal requirement to register land or property that you’ve:
- traded or exchanged with another landowner, also known as ‘land swaps’
- purchased
- inherited
- received as a gift
- mortgaged
- certain leases - those of more than 7 years
- rights contained in some leases
In other words, if property changes hands or is mortgaged, it must be registered with the Land Registry. Once registered, in general you must continue to inform the Land Registry of any dealings with the land including:
- changes to the title
- mortgages
- leases over seven years
- any easements affecting the land
Failure to do so can have serious consequences on your property ownership and rights.
Voluntary registration
If you acquired your land or property pre-1990 and have not mortgaged it since, it is likely to be unregistered. In this case, you can choose to register it at any time by making a voluntarily application to the Land Registry. You don’t have to wait until you sell or mortgage, and in fact, registering land prior to this makes the process much smoother.
Do you need help from a solicitor to register land with the Land Registry?
Most conveyancing solicitors will apply to register land that you have purchased as part of their conveyancing service. You may find this referred to as ‘post-completion requirements’ in your paperwork. This is because we can only make the application on your behalf to the Land Registry once the property purchase has completed. The same applies if you mortgage property – the lender will require the loan to be noted against your property at the Land Registry, also known as a ‘charge.’
In other situations where a solicitor may not be involved, such as if a family member gifts property to you, or you agree to trade parcels of land with someone you know personally – you must take steps to formally record the transfer of ownership.
Asking an experienced commercial property solicitor to handle the Land Registry formalities for you may very well be worth your time. In particular, you will benefit from:
- Expertise: as conveyancers, we are familiar with the minefield of procedures and processes to register land, which can be difficult to navigate if you haven’t done this before.
- Time-saving: registering land can be a time-consuming process, from gathering all the correct documents to dealing with any questions or concerns raised by the Land Registry. Instructing solicitors to take care of the paperwork means you have the time to focus on your business. Most law firms also have online business accounts with the Land Registry which are quicker than paper applications.
- ID and certification: as solicitors, we can verify your identity and certify any documents for you. If you handle the process as a private individual, you need to complete additional forms and arrange to certify any documents submitted as part of your application, which are likely to come at a cost.
- Risk-mitigation: the sheer consequences of getting it wrong may be reason enough to seek the help of a legal professional. If registered incorrectly, there can be all sorts of financial, legal and practical implications, such as:
- the risk that someone else may claim ownership of the land, also known as ‘adverse possession’
- errors in the description of the land or ownership of boundaries may result in disputes with neighbours
- correcting any errors can itself be a lengthy and expensive process, requiring another application to the Land Registry
- purchasers and lenders are likely to require that you correct any errors on the title before proceeding, which can impact or delay the sale or mortgage
Overall, using experienced commercial property solicitors can save you a lot of time, money and effort, and ultimately protect your interest in a valuable asset.
Advantages of registering land
There are plenty of advantages to registering land, including:
- registration gives you clear legal title/proof of ownership of the property
- registration significantly reduces the risk of others claiming they own or have a right to your land (adverse possession claims)
- you are less likely to be a victim of property fraud ie where your property is fraudulently mortgaged or sold by someone impersonating you
- registration can help with legal issues that may arise in the future relating to boundary ownership/responsibility
- the process of selling or financing becomes much simpler and smoother with clear ownership of the land
- the Land Registry charge a lower fee if you are voluntarily making an application for first registration
If you own unregistered property or land and would like peace of mind knowing it has been registered, contact our commercial property solicitors to get started.
Registering land for the first time – the process
Registering land for the first time at the Land Registry is known as ‘first registration’. It is a lengthy and often complex process, so it is wise to get the help of a commercial property solicitor. Below, we summarise they key steps in the process: .
1. Property Information
The first step is to provide us with relevant information and paperwork to evidence your property ownership. This includes any change in circumstances since the transfer of the property into your name. The documents to pull together are:
- any deeds and legal documents you hold relating to the property, whether in your name or the name of previous owners
- marriage certificate or name deed polls to evidence any change of name
- death certificates for deceased owners
- agreements that you have entered into since owning the property such as rights of way or mortgages
We will also need to know the approximate value of your property, as this will dictate the Land Registry’s fee for dealing with the application.
2. Root of Title
We will go through the information supplied by you and pinpoint the ‘root of title’. This is a deed, such as a mortgage, transfer or conveyance used as a starting point for a chain of ownership, ending with you as the current owner.
If this deed is at least 15 years old (and it was not a gift into your name), then it is considered to be a ‘good root of title’. All deeds pre-dating the root of title can be discarded, unless the deed itself refers to any rights or covenants (promises relating to the land) contained in them.
If the transfer of the property into your name is less than 15 years old, or it was a gift, then it cannot be used as a good root of title. At this point, we will try to find the deed that transferred the property into the previous owner’s name. This process is repeated until a good root of title is located.
3. Land Charges Search
We will then carry out a ‘land charges search’. This involves searching the Land Registry against all previous owners, to check if any rights may still exist in relation to your property.
4. Application to the Land Registry
Once satisfied, we will make an application to the Land Registry for first registration accompanied by:
- the good root of title
- any documents referred to in the root of title
- any relevant marriage or death certificates, mortgage or other legal documents relating to the property
- land charges search
If the deeds do not clearly identify the property, you will also need to commission a Land Registry-compliant plan to submit with your application.
Registering land without deeds
If your land is unregistered and you do not have the deeds, then it may be trickier to establish ownership.
Evidence
You will need to pull together any information about your land that may support your ownership claim. This could be documents such as:
- rent receipts
- letters from your solicitor at the time you acquired the property
- any general correspondence relating to your acquisition of the land
Statutory Declaration
Your application needs to be accompanied by a thorough statutory declaration - a written statement of fact confirming that the information within it is true to the best of a person’s knowledge. The statement should outline the history of ownership and provide as much detail as possible to evidence that you are the current owner. It needs to be signed in the presence of a solicitor to be valid, which usually costs around £5, plus £2 for every document attached to the declaration.
The statutory declaration must be sufficiently detailed and accurately prepared to improve your chances of the Land Registry accepting your application. Using the help of an experienced and knowledgeable commercial property solicitor can make all the difference.
Registering a change of ownership
If you have recently acquired property, whether that’s through purchase, gift or inheritance – you must take steps to formally register the change of ownership with the Land Registry.
For purchases or gifts of land, you need to sign and lodge a Land Registry-compliant transfer deed form. If the transfer is of the whole of a property – use form ‘TR1’ and if it is of part of a property, it’s ‘TP1’.
For property inherited from a sole owner, you need to submit a document called an ‘Assent’ or ‘AS1’ to the Land Registry, together with the grant of probate. If satisfied, the Land Registry will then transfer the property into your name. If the property was owned by more than one person, unfortunately, it is not that simple and further considerations apply.
If you need help with registering a transfer of ownership or have any questions about change of ownership, our friendly team of commercial property solicitors are here to help.
Registering a lease
When should you register a lease?
If you have recently signed a commercial lease, it is compulsory to register it with the Land Registry in some instances, including:
- the grant of a new commercial lease for a term of more than seven years (even if the freehold title is unregistered)
- transfer of an existing registered lease
- transfer of an existing unregistered lease which has more than seven years left to run
- the grant of a lease that starts more than three months after the date it is granted, regardless of its length
Leases granted for a term of seven years or less are not registrable.
If your current lease is unregistered and has more than seven years left to run, you can voluntarily apply to register it with the Land Registry.
Time limit and consequences for failure to register lease
If a lease is subject to compulsory registration, it must be registered within two months of the date it was created. The obligation to do so usually falls on the tenant, which is often written into the lease itself.
Failure to register within the time limit means the lease will not operate in law, but only in equity or as a contract ie it has a much weaker status. This can cause problems in the future, particularly when it comes to selling, subletting or financing the property. Potential buyers and lenders expect to see a valid legal interest in the property.
For landlords, you may not be able to recover unpaid rent from a guarantor of the lease. If you sold your freehold interest in the property, the lease would not transfer to the purchaser, and continue to exist as a personal contract between you and the tenant.
Procedure for registering a lease
Once the lease has completed, the next steps are to pay stamp duty land tax if applicable and make an application to the Land Registry. The application must include:
- a certified copy of the lease
- a Land Registry-compliant lease plan (usually contained within the lease)
- a stamp duty land tax certificate
- payment of the applicable Land Registry fee
The Land Registry will generate a unique title number for your leasehold interest on registration, and also note the lease on your landlord’s title (the freehold title out of which the lease was granted).
Actions to take for unregistrable leases
- If your unregistrable lease has a term of more than three years, you can apply to note it on your landlord’s title. By doing so, any prospective buyers of the freehold title will be alerted to your interest in the land.
- If your lease is unregistrable but grants you rights (easements) over your landlord’s property, they must be registered against your landlord’s title to take legal effect. This makes the right enforceable should there be complications down the line.
Variations to leases
You and your landlord may agree to change or amend the terms of the lease in the future. For example, varying the lease to allow you to share the property with another business, where previously it had been prohibited. Such variations are usually recorded in the form of a legally binding document known as a deed of variation. The deed of variation itself must be recorded against your leasehold title and the landlord’s freehold title to take effect in law.
To register the deed, you must make an application to alter the register (form AP1), enclosing a certified copy of the deed and pay the requisite Land Registry fee.
Priority Searches
If you are purchasing land or property, immediately before completion of the sale, your solicitor will undertake an important search at the Land Registry. This search, known as a ‘priority search’ is to ensure that the title register has not changed since a copy was provided by the seller at the outset of the transaction. The priority search triggers the beginning of a ‘priority period’, which means the property title is essentially locked at the Land Registry for six weeks, and any other dealings with it prevented.
The transfer of the property into your name must be registered during this priority period to ensure your ownership is not subject to any other rights asserted over the property.
Land Registry fees – How much does it cost to register land with the Land Registry?
Land Registry fees vary depending on several factors including the type of application made, whether it relates to the whole or part of a property title, the value of the property and even the method used to apply. Charges can start at £20 but can go up to £1,105, depending on the price of the property. The Land Registry operates two separate pay ‘scales’ as follows:
Scale 1 covers sale and purchase registrations, or first registrations of land.
Scale 1 fees are calculated based on the consideration (ie the purchase price) of the land or for first registrations, the open market value.
Whether you're registering land for the first time or need to update existing records, our commercial property solicitors can guide you through the process efficiently and with minimal stress. We help businesses avoid delays, resolve title issues and ensure their legal rights are properly recorded.
