Written evidence from the Land Registry (MAR 35)

Justice Select Committee Inquiry into Manorial Rights

Executive Summary

• Overriding interests are interests in registered land that are not recorded in the register but which will nonetheless bind any person who acquires an interest in the land, whether they know about them or not.
• Manorial rights were overriding interests up until 13 October 2003; since then, they have had to be recorded in the register, by way of notice, if they are to bind purchasers or mortgagees of the land affected.
• Applications may be made for two types of notice to be entered in the register – agreed notices and unilateral notices.
• In practice applicants opted to apply for unilateral notices in respect of manorial rights.
• A person must not lodge an application for a notice without reasonable cause. If they do, they owe a duty to anyone who suffers damage, and the person adversely affected may bring an action for damages.
• When an application for a unilateral notice is made, there is no requirement to lodge any document or other evidence in support of the interest claimed.  The owner of the land will be notified that the notice has been entered.
• When an application to cancel a unilateral notice is received, Land Registry will notify the beneficiary of the notice, who then has 15 business days in which to object to the application. If the beneficiary does not object to the application within that period, or any extension to it, the notice is cancelled.
• Any dispute about whether the notice should be cancelled that cannot be resolved by agreement between the parties has to be referred to the Land Registration division of the Property Chamber, First-tier Tribunal. Land Registry has no power to determine such a dispute.
• Land Registry is neutral on the question of whether manorial rights should be abolished. If the law is changed then Land Registry’s practice will change to accord with it.

1. Introduction

This evidence is submitted in the light of written evidence submitted by other parties. It is intended to clarify some aspects of land registration relating to applications in respect of manorial rights. 

Land Registry is neutral on the question of whether manorial rights should be abolished. If the law is changed then Land Registry’s practice will change to accord with it.

2. Overriding interests

Overriding interests are interests in registered land that are not recorded in the register of title maintained by Land Registry but which will nonetheless bind any person who acquires an interest in the land, whether they know about them or not. There are a number of categories of overriding interests: they were formerly set out in the Land Registration Act 1925 and are now listed in Schedules 1 and 3 to the Land Registration Act 2002.

Manorial rights were one category of overriding interest up until 13 October 2013 when, as a result of section 117 of the Land Registration Act 2002, their status as overriding interests came to an end.  The Law Commission wished to reduce the number of overriding interests and it was thought that manorial rights and a number of other rights, described as “relics from past times”, were sensible candidates to be phased out as overriding interests. Since 13 October 2013, manorial rights have only bound purchasers and mortgagees of registered land if protected by a “notice” – that is, a type of entry in the register.

The point has been made that, because there was no entry in the register, owners did not know of these rights when they bought their property. That is the case with all overriding interests. For example, customary rights are overriding interests. So if I buy a property today and it turns out that it is subject to customary rights, then I am bound by them even though there is no way I could have discovered their existence from the register, from any conveyancing searches, or indeed from the pre-registration deeds.

3. Agreed notices and unilateral notices

In accordance with the proposals of the Law Commission, the Land Registration Act 2002 allowed for two types of notice to be entered in the register – agreed notices and unilateral notices.

A notice, whether an agreed notice or a unilateral notice, is an entry made in the register recording an interest that adversely affects registered land. The effect of a notice is very limited. A notice does not guarantee that the interest is valid or even that it exists. A notice will only ensure that, provided the interest is valid, the interest will not be lost on Land Registry’s registration of a subsequent “registrable disposition for valuable consideration” of the land affected. The most common examples of such dispositions are sales and mortgages.

In the case of an agreed notice, the owner of the registered land affected – the “registered proprietor” – has to consent to the entry of the notice, or the applicant has to satisfy Land Registry as to the validity of their claim. There is no such requirement in the case of a unilateral notice.

People claiming the benefit of manorial rights were able to apply for either an agreed notice or a unilateral notice. Land Registry’s Practice Guide 66, Overriding interests losing automatic protection in 2013, said of an application for an agreed notice:-

“the applicant will normally need to produce:

• evidence that the land in question was previously copyhold of the manor in question (this will usually be provided by producing a copy of the deed of enfranchisement or compensation agreement)
• evidence that it was the custom of the manor in question that the lord had the rights claimed, for example by evidence from the court rolls
• evidence that the rights in question survived enfranchisement (this will usually be provided by producing a copy of the deed of enfranchisement or compensation agreement)
• evidence of the applicant’s title to the particular manorial rights claimed (this will usually consist of an abstract or epitome of title showing the applicant’s title to the lordship of the manor and that the rights have not been severed from the lordship)”.

In practice, applicants opted to apply for unilateral notices to protect their manorial rights, rather than agreed notices.

An application for a unilateral notice is made using Form UN1. Details of the nature of the interest claimed have to be set out in the form, but there is no requirement to lodge any document or other evidence in support of the interest claimed.

Once a unilateral notice is entered, the registered proprietor is notified, so that they can apply to have the notice cancelled if they wish.

4. Cancellation of agreed notices and unilateral notices

An application to cancel an agreed notice must be accompanied by appropriate evidence to satisfy Land Registry that the protected interest has come to an end.

An application by a registered proprietor to cancel a unilateral notice is made in Form UN4. The registered proprietor does not have to supply any reasons for their application, lodge any evidence in support of it, or pay any fee.

When an application to cancel a unilateral notice is received, Land Registry will notify the beneficiary of the notice – in this context, the person claiming the manorial rights.  The beneficiary then has 15 business days in which to object to the application.

If the beneficiary does not object to the application during the 15 business days, or any extension to this period, the notice is cancelled.

If the beneficiary does object to the cancellation of the notice, they will need to set out the grounds for their objection. There is no requirement at that stage for the objector to lodge evidence in support of their objection. Land Registry does not have the power to require the objector to lodge such evidence. Once Land Registry has established that an objection is not groundless, we will give details to the applicant for cancellation. Any dispute about whether the notice should be cancelled that cannot be resolved by agreement between the parties has to be referred to the Land Registration division of the Property Chamber, First-tier Tribunal. Land Registry has no power to determine such a dispute.

5. Disputes referred to the First-tier Tribunal

Prior to 2003, disputes between an applicant and a person objecting to the application could be determined by a senior lawyer in Land Registry. The Law Commission recommended that, as a matter of principle, it was desirable to create a completely independent office for adjudication and that was established in the Land Registration Act 2002. Such independent adjudication is now carried out by Judges in the Land Registration division of the Property Chamber, First-tier Tribunal.

When a dispute is referred to the Tribunal, the Tribunal’s Rules govern the practice and procedure relating to the proceedings, including the provision of any documents that are important to the case or that the Tribunal or any other party to the proceedings will require to understand the case. The overriding objective of those Rules is to enable the Tribunal to deal with cases fairly and justly and the parties are required to help the Tribunal to further that objective and to co-operate with the Tribunal generally. 

October 2014