ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the effect and impact of the 1925 legislation in more detail, considering in particular its role in simplifying the process of conveying land. A main function of the 1925 legislation was to introduce a nationwide system of compulsory registration of title and now more than 86 per cent of the land mass in England and Wales is registered. The chapter explains how legal interests in unregistered land are identified and bind purchasers. In unregistered land, whether a purchaser will take subject to any third-party proprietary rights affecting land is dependent largely upon whether it is legal or equitable. For unregistered land, the owner of the commercial nature interests must register them on the Land Charges Register and a purchaser of the land is expected to carry out a search of that register. Where land remains unregistered, the system for dealings with it must minimise the shortcomings caused by the lack of a central register.
