ABSTRACT
If a plot of land is described as ‘registered’, this means that ‘title’ to it (that is, an estate of freehold, or leasehold of over seven years) is recorded and guaranteed by the Land Registry. In contrast, ‘unregistered land’ is land to which title is not registered but is established by the title deeds of the particular property. Whether title is registered or unregistered depends simply on whether there have been any dealings with the land such as to give rise to an obligation to register, or whether the ‘owner’ has applied for voluntary first registration of title. As such, there is no magic about land being ‘registered’: it is simply a way of saying that the title is recorded and guaranteed and that dealings with the land fall within the procedures established by the LRA 2002 and the Land Registration Rules 2003 (as amended). When answering problem questions in an examination, one of the first things to establish is whether the land is registered, and normally you will be told. For example, there may be references to the ‘registered proprietor’ or the land’s ‘title number’. If you are not told, it cannot be important for your answer as there is no way that you can deduce whether title is registered. After all, whether there has been registration of title does not depend on the quality of the land or the interests in it, but whether an event has occurred that has triggered registration of title.
