As long ago as 1925, Parliament passed the Land Registration Act. This introduced a system which provided for the registration of all land in England and Wales, a strategy which would eventually replace traditional title deeds with a Land Registry Certificate of Title.

 

The years passed and only some parts of the country were subject to compulsory registration and in this area, one has only had to apply for registration following a transfer for value since the late 80s.

 

More recently, registration became compulsory for all transfers and now the Land Registry is positively encouraging land owners to apply for first registration on a voluntary basis. It even offers a discounted fee for volunteers! Those who do so, find that their title deeds are replaced by a Title Information Document which specifies a written description of the property, the names and addresses of the registered proprietors and finally those matters to which the property is subject.

 

The Title Information Document also incorporates a plan and, whilst the boundaries are not definitive, the Land Registry plan is invariably more accurate than plans traditionally used with title deeds and therefore a significant advantage.

 

There is one particular set of circumstances which make it advisable for landowners to seriously consider voluntary registration and that relates to claims by squatters. The term "squatter" implies an unwelcome visitor but that is not necessarily the case and this was illustrated in a case in the Court of Appeal called Topplan Estates Limited v. Townley. The Defendant had been granted a Grazing Licence in 1981 and although he paid a licence fee for 2 years, thereafter no fee was requested or paid and there was no written agreement. The Defendant continued to occupy and farm the land and was effectively in exclusive possession. In 1992 ownership of the land was transferred and in the following year there was a transfer of a small part of the disputed land to the local Highway Authority. The Defendant continued to graze the remainder of the land without any disturbance on the part of the new owner.

 

The Defendant successfully claimed title to the land on the basis of his undisturbed possession over 12 years. The new owner's appeal to the Court of Appeal failed and it was held that the Judge was correct to declare that the Defendant was entitled to be registered as the owner of the land.

 

The moral of this particular case is that it is almost certain that the outcome would not have been the same had the land been registered. The Land Registration Rules of 2003 set out a procedure to be followed by a "squatter" and these involve alerting the owner to the claim to the land. Providing the owner takes steps to object to the claim, there are only very limited circumstances in which the squatter can succeed.

 

If for no other reason, the advantages that registration gives an owner against a squatter makes it a viable and worthwhile step to take.