Getting a Copy of Your Title Deeds
The Land Registry in England and Wales is the government body which keeps track of all land in the country, and has done for centuries. If you get into a dispute with your neighbour about which of you own a parcel of land, or if you want to buy or sell a property, it’s the job of the Land Registry to log the transaction and keep the database of who owns what up to date. The Land Registry also offers historic searches, allowing homeowners to look at who owned and lived in their building in the past.
If you are buying your property on a mortgage agreement, the company you are borrowing the money from usually keep hold of the original title deeds to your property. Once you have paid the mortgage off, you can apply to have the deeds sent to you to keep, or pass to a lawyer or bank for safekeeping.
What’s On the Deeds?
Depending on the property, the title deeds may contain lots of information about previous owners of your home. You can request a copy of the title deeds at any time from your mortgage lender, although there might be an administration charge to do so. The Land Registry does not store original deeds; they just maintain the database showing who owns what.
Getting a Copy of Deeds
If you’re interested in finding out whether deeds for your property – or any other property – exist, then the easiest way to do this is online. On the Land Registry website, enter the postcode of the property you are interested in, and then select the property from the menu presented. The page will then show whether the property is freehold or leasehold, and the price paid when it was last sold. At the bottom of the page there is a button which allows you to see all of the documents which are available to purchase in connection with the property which you have selected.
You can then pay £3 to download the copy of the title documents which are held online. It is also entirely possible that no results are returned – this just means that the Land Registry doesn’t have a scanned copy of the title deeds.
Easements and Covenants
As well as a plan of the property, and a description of the boundaries, the title deeds also record important legal information about a property. Easements are things like rights of way, or access requirements, and can be what you need to prove that you are allowed to walk through your neighbour’s garden to access yours, for example. Covenants are clauses about what can or cannot be done with the land, such as a ban on sub-letting, or not being allowed to keep animals in the back garden. These details can be very useful if you are planning to renovate or build an extension, or if your neighbour is telling you something you believe not to be true. Always seek legal advice on complex property issues.