Law of Property (Amendment) Act 1924

Section 8.

EIGHTH SCHEDULE Provisions facilitating the Consolidation of the Law relating to Registration of Title to Land

Registration of legal estates.

1 The words “for value ” in section one hundred and sixty-five of the principal Act are hereby repealed.

Definitions.

2 Registered land" in the principal Act means land or any estate or interest in land the title to which is registered under the Act of 1875 and includes any easement, right, privilege, or benefit which is appurtenant or appendant thereto, and any mines and minerals within or under the land and held therewith.

Power to create charges.

3 (1) The proprietor of any registered land may by deed—

(a) charge the registered land with the payment at an appointed time of any principal sum of money either with or without interest;

(b) charge the registered land in favour of a building society under the Building Societies Acts, 1874 to 1894, in accordance with the rules of that society.

(2) A charge may be in any form provided that—

(a) the registered land comprised in the charge is described by reference to the register or in any other manner sufficient to enable the registrar to identify the same without reference to any other document;

(b) the charge does not refer to any other interest or charge affecting the land which—

(i) would have priority over the same and is not registered or protected on the register;

(ii) is not an overriding interest.

(3) Any provision contained in a charge which purports to—

(i) take away from the proprietor thereof the power of transferring it by registered disposition or of requiring the cessation thereof to be noted on the register; or

(ii) affect any registered land or charge other than that in respect of which the charge is to be expressly registered;

shall be void.

(4) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall have effect in substitution for section twenty-two of the Act of 1875.

Operation of charges.

4 The provisions of section one hundred and sixty-seven of the principal Act relating to the operation of charges shall be read as follows :—

“(1) A registered charge shall, unless made or taking effect by demise or sub-demise, and subject to any provision to the contrary contained in the charge, take effect as a charge by way of legal mortgage.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a registered charge may contain in the case of freehold land, an express demise, and in the case of leasehold land an express sub-demise of the land to the creditor for a term of years absolute, subject to a proviso for cesser on redemption.

(3) Any such demise or subdemise or charge by way of legal mortgage shall take effect from the date of the delivery of the deed containing the same, but subject to the estate or interest of any person (other than the proprietor of the land) whose estate or interest (whenever created) is registered or noted on the register before the date of registration of the charge.

(4) Any charge registered before the commencement of this Act shall take effect as a demise or subdemise of the land in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and the registered estate shall (without prejudice to any registered charge or any term or subterm created by a charge or by statute) vest in the person appearing by the register to be entitled to the ultimate equity of redemption.”

Implied covenant to pay and powers of chargees.

5 (1) The words “as well after as before any judgment is obtained in respect of the charge ” shall be inserted in section twenty -three of the Act of 1875 after " appointed rate. "

(2) For the purposes of subsections (14) and (15) of section one hundred and sixty-seven of the principal Act, an incumbrance or entry on the register shall not be deemed to be inferior to the charge in right of which title is made if the incumbrance or other interest is given the requisite priority by statute or otherwise.

Restrictive covenants.

6 The following words shall be inserted at the end of sub-paragraph (6) of paragraph 21 of Part J. of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act—

“This provision shall authorise the proprietor in reference to the registered land to give any licence, consent or approval which a tenant for life is by the Settled Land Acts authorised to give in reference to settled land.”

Transmissions on bankruptcy.

7 The following section shall be substituted for section forty-three of the Act of 1875 :—

“43 Upon the bankruptcy of the proprietor of any registered land or charge, his trustee shall, on the production of the prescribed evidence to be furnished by the official receiver or trustee in bankruptcy that the estate or charge is part of the property of the bankrupt divisible amongst his creditors, be entitled to be registered as proprietor in his place. The official receiver shall be entitled to be registered pending the appointment of a trustee.”

Registration of notices of leases.

8 The following provision shall be inserted at the end of section fifty-one of the Act of 1875—

“Provided that where the lease is binding on the proprietor of the land neither the consent of such proprietor nor an order of the court shall be required.”

Restrictions.

9 The following subsections shall be inserted at the end of section fifty-eight of the Act of 1875 :—

“(2) In the case of joint proprietors the restriction may be to the effect that when the number of proprietors is reduced below a specified number, no disposition shall be registered except under an order of the court, or of the registrar after inquiry into title, subject to appeal to the court; and, subject to general rules, such an entry under this subsection as may be prescribed shall be obligatory unless it is shown to the registrar's satisfaction that the joint proprietors are entitled for their own benefit, or can give valid receipts for capital money, or that one of them is a trust corporation.

(3) Rules may be made to enable applications to be made for the entry of restrictions by persons other than the proprietor.”

Pending actions, &c.

10 (1) The following article shall be substituted for article (iv) of sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 20 of Part I. of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act:—

“(iv) The foregoing provisions shall apply only to writs and orders, deeds of arrangement, pending actions and land charges which if the land were unregistered would for purposes of protection be required to be registered or re-registered after the commencement of this Act under the Land Charges Acts and for the purposes of this paragraph a land charge does not include a puisne mortgage or an Inland Revenue charge.”

(2) In sub-paragraph (1) of the said paragraph 20 the words “and to the title of the trustee in bankruptcy ” shall be inserted after " fraud. "

Notice of incumbrances registered under the Companies Act.

11 The following paragraph shall be inserted at the end of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act:—

“12 (1) Where a company, registered under the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, is registered as proprietor of any estate or charge already registered, the registrar shall not be concerned with any mortgage, charge, debenture, debenture stock, trust deed for securing the same, or other incumbrance created or issued by the company, whether or not registered under that Act, Unless it is registered or protected by caution or otherwise under the Act of 1875.

(2) No indemnity shall be payable under the Land Transfer Acts by reason of a purchaser acquiring any interest under a registered disposition from the company free from any such incumbrance.”

12 (1) In subsection (4) of section one hundred and seventy-nine of the principal Act, the words “but without prejudice to ” dealings with or in right of interests or charges having priority “over the estate or charge of the bankrupt proprietor ” shall be inserted after " bankruptcy inhibition. "

(2) In subsection (7) of the same section the word “petition ” shall be omitted, and at the end of that subsection the words “Nothing in this section shall impose on a purchaser a liability ” to make any search under the Land Charges Acts" shall be inserted.

Production of certificates.

13 The following sub-paragraph shall be inserted at the end of sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 7 of Part II of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act.

“(2A) The registrar shall have the same powers of compelling the production of certificates as are conferred on him as to the production of maps and other documents.”

Effect of registration on the legal estate.

14 The following subsection shall be substituted for subsections (2) and (3) of section one hundred and seventy of the principal Act:—

“(2) The proprietor of land, whether he was registered before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have vested in him without any conveyance, where the registered land is freehold, the legal estate in fee simple in possession, and where the registered land is leasehold the legal term created by the registered lease, but subject to the overriding interests, if any, including any mortgage term or charge by way of legal mortgage created by or under this Act, or otherwise which has priority to the registered estate.”

Undivided shares.

15 The following section shall be substituted for subsections (1), (2) and (4) of section one hundred and sixty-four of the principal Act:—

“164 (1) Where in the case of land belonging to persons in undivided shares the entirety of the land is registered at the commencement of this Act, and the persons entitled to the several undivided shares are registered as proprietors, the registrar shall, on the occasion of the first dealing affecting the title after the commencement of this Act, rectify the register by entering as the proprietors of the entirety of the land the persons in whom the legal estate therein has become vested by virtue of this Act, and it shall be the duty of the persons registered as the proprietors of the undivided shares in the land to furnish to the registrar, such evidence as he may require to enable him to ascertain the persons in whom such legal estate has become so vested as aforesaid.

(2) Where at the commencement of this Act the title to an undivided share in land is registered but the entirety of the land is not registered, the registrar may, at any time, after giving notice to the proprietor and to the other persons (if any) who appear by the register to be interested therein, remove from the register the title to the undivided share, and such removal shall have the like effect as if it had been effected by the proprietor with the assent of such other persons as aforesaid in pursuance of the power in that behalf contained in the Act of 1897 :

Provided that, if within one year from the commencement of this Act or such extended time as the registrar may allow, and before the removal of the undivided share from the register in manner aforesaid, the persons in whom the legal estate of the entirety of the land is vested by virtue of this Act, or any persons interested in more than an undivided half of the land or the income thereof, make an application in the prescribed manner for the purpose and furnish the prescribed evidence, the registrar shall, without charging any fee, register the persons in whom such legal estate is so vested as proprietors of that estate, subject to any incumbrance capable of registration affecting the entirety of the land, but free from any charge or incumbrance (whether formerly registered or not) affecting an undivided share, and when the title to the entirety of the land is so registered, the title to the undivided share shall be closed.

(3) If the person in whom the legal estate in the entirety of the land is so vested is the Public Trustee, he shall not be registered as proprietor pursuant to this section unless and until he has been duly requested to act in accordance with this Act, and has accepted the trust.

(4) After the commencement of this Act, no entry other than a caution against dealings with the entirety shall be made in the register as respects the title to an undivided share in land.”

Rectification.

16 The following paragraphs shall be substituted for paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) of section one hundred and seventy-four of the principal Act:—

“(c) Where the court or the registrar is satisfied that any entry in the register has been obtained by fraud;

(d) Where two or more persons are, by mistake, registered as proprietors of the same registered estate or of the same charge;

(e) Where a mortgagee has been registered as proprietor of the land instead of as proprietor of a charge and a right of redemption is subsisting;

(f) Where a legal estate has been registered in the name of a person who if the land had not been registered would not have been the estate owner.”

Foreshore.

17 The following section shall be substituted for section sixty-six of the Act of 1875:—

“66 (1) If it appears to the registrar that any land, application for registration whereof is made to him, comprises foreshore, he shall not register an estate in the land unless and until he is satisfied that at least one month's notice in writing of the application has been given to the Board of Trade, and—

(a) in case of land in the county palatine of Lancaster, also to the proper officer of the Duchy of Lancaster; and

(b) in case of land in the counties of Cornwall or Devon, also to the proper officer of the Duke of Cornwall; and

(c) in the case of land within the jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority, also to that authority; and

(d) in all other cases, also to the Commissioners of Woods.

(2) This section shall not apply to the registration of an estate with a possessory title or with a good leasehold title.”

Charitable trusts.

18 The following paragraph shall be inserted at the end of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act:—

“13 Where an application is made to register a legal estate in land subject to charitable trusts and that estate is vested in the official trustee of charity lands, he shall, notwithstanding that the powers of disposition are vested in the managing trustees or committee, be registered as proprietor thereof.”

Small holdings.

19 Subsection (2) of section thirteen of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908, is hereby repealed, and the following provisions shall have effect in lieu thereof and shall be construed with the Land Transfer Acts :—

“(1) Where a county council apply in pursuance of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908, for registration as proprietors, they may be registered as proprietors with any such title as is authorised by the Land Transfer Acts.

(2) Where a county council, after having been so registered, dispose of any interest in the land for the purposes of a small holding to a purchaser or lessee he shall be registered as proprietor of the interest transferred or created (being an interest capable of registration) with an absolute title, subject only to such incumbrances as may be created under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908, but freed from all other liabilities not being overriding interests, and in any such case the remedy of any person claiming by title paramount to the county council in respect either of title or incumbrances shall be in damages only, and such lamages shall be recoverable against the county council.

(3) Where under the powers conferred by subsection (4) of section twelve of the said Act, a county council by notice require registered land to be sold to themselves, the council shall, after such date as may be specified by the notice mentioned in that subsection and on production to the registrar of evidence—

(a) of service of such notice; and

(b) of the payment of the sum agreed or determined in manner provided by that subsection or of the tender of such payment;

be registered as the proprietors of the land in place of the proprietor, and such registration shall operate as a registration on a transfer for valuable consideration under the Act of 1875 as amended.

(4) Rules under the Land Transfer Acts may—

(a) adapt the Land Transfer Acts to the registration of small holdings with such modifications as" appear to be required; and

(b) on the application and at the expense of a county council provide by the appointment of local agents or otherwise for the carrying into effect of the objects of this section; and

(c) enable the registrar to obtain production of the land certificate.

(5) For the purposes of the foregoing provisions the expression “county council ” includes " county borough council.”

Minor interests.

20 The following sub-paragraph shall be substituted for sub-paragraph (9) of paragraph 12 of Part I. of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act :—

“(9) Where by the operation of any statute or statutory or other power, or by virtue of any vesting order of any court or other competent authority, or an order appointing a person to convey, or of a vesting declaration (express or implied) or of an appointment or other assurance, a minor interest in the registered land, is disposed of or created which would, if registered, be capable of taking effect as a legal estate or charge by way of legal mortgage, then—

(i) if the estate owner would, had the land not been registered, have been bound to give effect thereto by conveying or creating a legal estate or charge by way of legal mortgage, the proprietor shall, subject to proper provision being made for payment of costs, be bound to give legal effect to the transaction by a registered disposition;

(ii) If the proprietor is unable or refuses to make the requisite disposition or cannot be found, or if for any other reason a disposition by him cannot be obtained within a reasonable time, or if, had the land not been registered, no conveyance by the estate owner would have been required to give legal effect to the transaction, the registrar shall give effect thereto in the prescribed manner in like manner and with the like consequences as if the transaction had been carried out by a registered disposition :

Provided that—

(a) So long as the proprietor has power under the Settled Land Acts, or any other statute conferring special powers on a tenant for life or statutory owner, or under the settlement, to override the minor interest so disposed of or created, no estate or charge shall be registered which would prejudicially affect any such powers;

(b) So long as the proprietor holds the land on trust for sale, no estate or charge shall be registered in respect of an interest which, under this Act, or otherwise, ought to remain liable to be overridden on the execution of the trust for sale;

(c) Nothing in this subsection shall impose on a proprietor an obligation to make a disposition unless the person requiring the disposition to be made has a right in equity to call for the same;

(d) Nothing in this subsection shall prejudicially affect the rights of a personal representative in relation to the administration of the estate of the deceased.

On every alteration in the register made pursuant to this section the land certificate and any charge certificate which may be affected shall be produced to the registrar unless an order to the contrary is made by him.”

Mortgages protected on the register.

21 The following subsections shall be substituted respectively for subsections (1) and (5) of section one hundred and sixty-eight of the principal Act:—

“(1) The proprietor of any registered land may, subject to any entry to the contrary on the register, mortgage, by deed or otherwise, the land or any part thereof in any manner which would have been permissible if the land had not been registered and with- the like effect:

Provided that the registered land comprised in the mortgage is described (whether by reference to the register or in any other manner) in such a way as is sufficient to enable the registrar to identify the same without reference to any other document.”

“(5) Where a mortgage by deed has been protected by a caution in the specially prescribed form, the mortgagee, or the persons deriving title under him, may, subject to furnishing sufficient evidence of title, and notwithstanding that any interest or charge affecting the land not registered or protected on the register which has priority to the mortgage is disclosed, require the mortgage to be registered as a charge with the same priority as the caution.

Neither the registrar or any person interested under a registered disposition shall be affected with notice of any such interest or charge so disclosed.”

Vendor and purchaser.

22 The following paragraph shall be inserted at the end of subsection (1) of section one hundred and seventy-seven of the principal Act—

“(e) The purchaser shall not, by reason of the registration, be affected with notice of any pending action, writ, order, deed of arrangement or land charge (other than a local land charge) to which this paragraph applies, which can be protected under the Act of 1875 (as amended) by lodging or registering a creditor's notice, inhibition, caution or other notice, or be concerned to make any search therefor if and so far as they effect registered land.

This paragraph applies only to pending actions, writs, orders, deeds of arrangement and land charges (not including local land charges) required to be registered or re-registered after the commencement of this Act, either under the Land Charges Acts or any other statute registration whereunder has effect as if made under those Acts.”

Infants.

23 After the words “deposited at the registry ” in sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 23 of Part I. of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act the words “and shall, unless and until the ” tenant for life, statutory owners, personal representatives or “trustees for sale are registered as proprietors be protected by ” means of a restriction or otherwise on the register " shall be inserted.

Misdemeanors.

24 In sections ninety-nine and one hundred of the Act of 1875 the following words shall be inserted after the words “five hundred pounds ” :—

“or on summary conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine.”

Compulsory areas and the Crown.

25 The provisions of the Act of 1897 (as amended) relating to compulsory registration of title on sale shall bind the Crown as respects transactions completed after the commencement of the principal Act.

Duties of officers.

26 The following words shall be inserted at the end of section one hundred and six of the Act of 1875 :—

“Subject to such regulations, anything authorised or required by this Act to be done to or by the registrar, may or shall be done to or by the Chief Land Registrar.”

Seal.

27 The following words shall be inserted at the end of section one hundred and seven of the [[8 & 9 Vict. c. 113, s. 1.].] Act of 1875 :—

“There shall continue to be a seal of the land registry and any document purporting to be sealed with that seal shall be received in evidence without further proof.”

Rules.

28 The following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph (ii) of subsection (6) of section twenty-two of the Act of 1897 :—

“(ii) For enabling cautions to be entered against the registration of possessory and qualified titles as qualified, good leasehold,' or absolute or against the registration of a good leasehold title as absolute.”

Further rules.

29 The following sub-paragraphs shall be inserted at the end of paragraph 25 of Part I. of the Sixteenth Schedule to the principal Act:—

“(o) For prescribing the procedure to be adopted when land is or becomes subject to any charitable, ecclesiastical or public trusts;

(p) For prescribing any consents to be given before a title to such land is registered ;

(q) For prescribing the duties, if any, to be performed by the managing trustees or committee;

(r) For prescribing the restrictions, if any, to be entered on the register in regard to such land; and

(s) For enabling entries to be made in the register on the surrender, extinguishment or discharge of any subsisting interest without previously registering the title to the interest which is merged or extinguished.”