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If you are thinking of selling your home, you may be concerned if you do not know where your title deeds are. We take a look at the process for dealing with lost title deeds.

When you decide to sell, you can start putting documentation together for your solicitor straight away. This can include filling out the property information and fixtures and fittings forms that your solicitor will let you have and finding copies of guarantees for things like your boiler and windows.

It will also be helpful to know where your title deeds are. As well as the deeds themselves, there may be other useful information held with them, such as copies of planning consents, notices and guarantees. If you have a mortgage, your mortgage lender may have the deeds.

Other places you could check are with the solicitors who dealt with your purchase or with your bank.

Is your property registered?

A large proportion of land in England and Wales has been registered at HM Land Registry. Since 1990, it has been compulsory to register land when it is sold or transferred. This means that around 88% of the land in England and Wales has been registered.

We can search to see whether your home has been registered with the Land Registry. If it has, it is a simple matter to request a copy of the title from them. They will also usually be able to provide copies of any documents referred to in the title, which your buyer’s solicitor will also need to see.

This means that with registered property, losing the physical title deeds is not a major difficulty.

Unregistered property

If your property is not registered, lost title deeds are more of a problem and the situation will take time to deal with. Your solicitor will need to reconstruct the title and ask the Land Registry to register you as the owner of the property.

The Land Registry will want to see as much evidence as possible relating to the title. This will include:

• Your full name
• A declaration signed by you stating that you are the legal owner of the land
• A description of the land
• A plan of the land
• Details of the length of your ownership
• Who had the title deeds last and where they were being kept when they were lost or destroyed
• Why that person was holding the title deeds
• Where, when and how the title deeds were lost
• What steps have been taken to try and locate the title deeds
• Details of any mortgages over the property
• Documentary evidence showing your ownership
• Details of rights over the land
• A list of the documents that will be used to reconstitute the title
• Verification of your identity

Possessory title

There are different classes of title, including absolute title and possessory title. Absolute is the best grade of title, but if deeds have been lost it is likely that the Land Registry will only grant possessory title. An application can be made to upgrade this after 12 years if no-one has challenged your ownership.

If you are selling your home in the meantime, you need to be aware that having possessory title is likely to adversely impact the value. Buyers may be able to find a lender prepared to lend, but the process will be more complicated and their solicitor will need to carry out more due diligence work.

Contact us

For further advice please contact one of our Residential Property experts.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.