ABSTRACT
Necessarily, this reform of the conveyancing process has required some changes to the substantive principles of land law.
Title to land 1 .03 Title to land in England and Wales is either ‘ unregistered ’ or ‘ registered ’ , although the latter is now far more common and is the norm. With effect from 1 December 1990, all land (or more accurately, title to land) in England and Wales must be ‘ registered ’ consequent on a dealing with it, such as a transfer of ownership or a mortgage or the granting of certain leases. After this ‘ fi rst registration ’ , the title remains registered in all circumstances and for all future transactions. Thus, ‘ unregistered title ’ will disappear over time. The Land Registry estimates that virtually all transferable titles will be registered by 2012, but already all major urban areas consist substantially of ‘ registered title ’ and the Land Registration Act 2002 has greatly speeded up the process of fi rst registration. In particular, owners of substantial parcels of land – such as local authorities – are being encouraged voluntarily to fi rst register their land (that is, without there being any dealing with it) and many are taking advantage of lower fees and free assistance from the Land Registry. For the architect, as with others interested in the precise details of land ownership and the existence of obligations affecting land, the achievement of widespread registration of title greatly assists the development process.
