153.Section 64 defines “completion”. Completion generally means settlement. For instance, in the case of a routine house purchase, that would be the point at which the buyer has paid the purchase price and receives a signed disposition (the “conveyance”) and the keys to the house. In this case, the point of completion is earlier than the point of registration of the disposition in the Land Register, at which point the buyer obtains the real right in land.(10) The usual rule about completion/settlement would not always work effectively in the particular case of leases, so completion in that context means when the lease is executed by the parties or otherwise constituted.
As electronic conveyancing practices become more common the process of delivering dispositions, paying tax and obtaining registration will become more streamlined. The “effective date” may then be the same date as the date of registration.