At ntitle, we deal with all sorts of types of property and all tenure, however we have noticed that unregistered land seems to be an area that causes problems for today’s conveyancers.
Arguably a lot of people in the industry would say that this type of land is an ever-shrinking issue, the amount of unregistered land in England and Wales in 2020 was about 14% (which still works out to be a massive 5.2 million acres of land!) This is a number that will be slowly decreasing with the Land Registry optimistically looking to have registered all public land in England and Wales by 2030. However, while the amount of unregistered land is shrinking, conveyancers still need the skills to deal with it once it crosses their desk, and it will. Especially with the demand for new build properties skyrocketing. Developers buy up large swathes of land from farmers and other large land owners, which is often unregistered, having been owned by that family/organisation for many decades.
When a Conveyancer has tight deadlines, awkward lenders, stressed clients (moving house is stressful regardless of how many times you move), and a profit target to hit, the last thing you need, is the complexities of unregistered property. Which may also be additionally complicated as unregistered land may also have agricultural connections and restrictions, overriding interests and rents/tithes and other archaic restrictions.
It is clear that junior conveyancers today struggle with the additional work required for unregistered land. Here ntitle all our title investigators have in depth knowledge and experience with this which can be utilised by using our service and can take the pressure off less experience members of the team.
It can be difficult as a conveyancer to have to turn down work (and in some firms downright dangerous to your long term career prospects). However, we are all well aware of our requirements to only take on work that we are confident as to our legal knowledge and experience in. Outsourcing this work could be a viable alternative to manage this.
Here at ntitle we understand conveyancing and we understand unregistered land.
Let us check the aged (and often beautifully difficult to read) documents and connect the twisted path of the root of title to your seller, let us check that SIM searches have been carried out and that current Land Charges certificates have been supplied and present no issues. Or if issues are presented, let us note them clearly, identify their impact for your client, and raise the appropriate enquiries. Leaving you with time to deal with the 1001 other matters, tasks, and responsibilities you have and the knowledge that your fee/time estimate is safe from the pitfalls or unregistered land.
With our easy to use hub for uploading the contract papers, two working day turn around, a title snapshot for the busy conveyancer, and easy to download reports and enquiries for clients, your productivity can flourish.
Unregistered land is not dead yet and with ntitle’s help is doesn’t have to be an undead nightmare!
