Date of First Registration

Date of First Registration at the Land Registry

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Overview

The date of First Registration of a property is a useful item of information to recognise, and often goes unnoticed by the majority of customers purchasing a Title Register.

A: Property Register

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The A section is the first of three sections of the Title Register. This section of the Register describes the property that has been registered, and most people refer to it to check the address of the property and to look at any easements, such as rights of way.

In most Title Registers the first numbered paragraph under the A: Property Section, contains a date in brackets. This is the date of First Registration.

Sample extract from the A Register:

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Why the Date of First Registration is Useful to Know

The three most common uses of the date of First Registration are:

1. Prior Copies

Prior Copies of the Title Register are available from 1 April 1993 or the date of First Registration, whichever is the later.

A person wishing to obtain details of the history of ownership of a property will wish to know how far back he can search, without wasting money searching a period of time during which the property was not registered. For properties dating back earlier than the date of First Registration and/or earlier than 1993, a different type of search is made.

2. Property Insurance

Insurers often require the date a property was built before they will insure it.

Although the Title Register does not state when a property was built, it often coincides with a date a little earlier than the date of First Registration. The younger the property, the more likely this is, because it has been compulsory to register a property when it is purchased or mortgaged, for quite a long time now. The insurers will usually accept an estimate based on this date, as often it is the only date available.

3. A Change in the Nature of the Ownership Documents

Prior to First Registration, conveyancing was a complex and lengthy procedure. A solicitor had to investigate a good root of title, ensuring there are no breaks between periods of ownership and that each vendor was in fact the legal owner of the property and that the respective owners were unfettered by insanity, minority or insolvency at the time of sale.

Following First Registration the process was simplified. Solicitors would send the documents comprising a good root of title to the Land Registry, who would compile simplified ownership documents that were typewritten (as opposed to odiously lengthy hand-written documents). The legal language was also simplified and it is now much easer to discover what the ownership of the property includes. The two ownership documents created are the Title Register and Title Plan.

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