I love an old title deed and from time to time, I still submit applications for first registration of deeds to the Land Registry. However, when I heard that the Land Registry practice of accepting applications for first registration based on certified copy deeds has ended, I had two concerns.
First, a fair number of my first registrations are made on the basis of certified copy deeds as the originals have been mislaid over the years. Fortunately, the change does not affect applications where the original deeds have been lost or destroyed or applications for first registration based on adverse possession. Phew!
Second, sending original deeds in the post always makes me uneasy. I will be retaining scanned copies of anything lodged at Land Registry on file just in case!
The aim of the Land Registry’s new practice is to ensure that “the highest quality copies” are held by the Land Registry. The originals will be scanned on receipt by the Land Registry and returned to the conveyancer while the application progresses. However, conveyancers are asked to retain the deeds until the application is completed, in case they need to call for the originals during the process for “quality assurance purposes”.
Hopefully this means that the Land Registry will be checking the quality of their scanned documents during the application process. It is frustrating to request copy documents and find that the plans are not coloured and pages are missing, as can be the case currently. This would be very welcome.