Property Solicitors Specialising in Selling and Buying Land Without Title Deeds 
If you are thinking of selling a property, your solicitor will need to prove to the buyer that you own the house, flatland or other building. Historically that proof was provided by producing one or more, known as the title deeds. However, most UK property is now registered, so lost title deeds are less often issue – see below. However if your property is unregistered and you cannot locate the title deeds, try not to worry. You can sell a house without deeds. But it may make the transaction more complicated, and that’s why you need an experienced conveyancing solicitor to deal with the problem.
You should ask for help as soon as possible though, because it will take time to be ready to complete a sale.
Need specialist legal advice on selling your house without the deeds? Call us on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 for FREE initial phone advice – with no strings attached.
Registered and unregistered land – the differences
Much of the land and property in England and Wales is registered at HM Land Registry. Since 1990, it has been compulsory to register land when it’s sold or mortgaged. This means that if your property has been sold or mortgaged since 1990, it will be registered.
In fact according to the government, as at June 2023, the Land Register contains more than 26 million titles which accounts for ownership for more than 88% of the land in England and Wales. But that still means around 12% of land by area in England and Wales remains unregistered.
• Registered property
After the registration process, a property is entered onto the Land Register. The details recorded by HM Land Registry include:
· The name of the legal owner of the property and their address
· The address of the property
· The title number that it has been given by the Land Registry
· A plan of the property
· Whether the title is absolute, qualified or possessory
· Rights or restrictions relating to the property
· Any legal charges over the property, such as a mortgage
If you have lost the title deeds to a registered property, this is not a problem. All of the information will be available from the Land Registry. When you sell your home, your solicitor will simply order a copy of your title and the plan from the Land Registry. They will do this even if your title deeds are available, as the buyer’s solicitor will want to make sure that they see an up to date copy.
• Unregistered property
With unregistered land, instead of viewing the Land Register to see who owns the property, the title deeds prove ownership.
You will usually need the following documents:
· A conveyance that is at least 15 years old
· Any documents referred to in that conveyance
· All conveyances since that conveyance, right up to and including the conveyance that transfers the property to the current owner
If the title deeds have been lost, your solicitor will need to try and provide evidence of these documents and what they contained. This is known as reconstituting the title.
Can lost deeds be replaced? Reconstituting the title
The Land Registry will need to see as much evidence as possible of your ownership of the property. They will also need details of any rights and restrictions relating to the property.
The process can be complex and it’s a good idea to use a property solicitor with expertise in reconstituting titles. This is particularly important if you are hoping to sell your property soon.
Here at Bonallack & Bishop, we regularly deal with lost title deeds, reconstituting the title so that conveyancing can take place without too much delay.
What will the Land Registry need to see?
You should complete a statement of truth on the Land Registry’s form ST3. Details requested include:
· Your name and a declaration that you are the legal owner of the land
· A description of the land and a plan of it
· The length of time you have owned it
· Who had the title deeds and where they were held when they were lost or destroyed
· Why that person had the title deeds
· Where, when and how the loss happened
· What steps have been taken to try and recover the title deeds
· Details of any mortgages or charges over the property
· Evidence of your ownership
· Details of rights over the land
· A list of the documents included that will reconstitute the title
· Evidence of your identity
Your solicitor will fill in this form on your behalf and put together documents to support your application.
If you ask us to reconstitute a title for you, we will investigate other properties that may have similar conveyances as well as bodies that may hold more information. This could be someone with rights over the property. For example, if you pay a rentcharge ( which is a sum paid, usually annually, by a freehold home owner to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land or property), the rentcharge owner may have documents that would provide evidence to help.
We will also make sure that evidence of your ownership is included. We often use council tax or utility bills or official correspondence addressed to you at the property, both recently and in the past.
If necessary, we can contact the solicitors who acted for you previously to ask them to search their storage for the deeds. If they can’t find the deeds, we will ask them for written confirmation that they dealt with you and the property. This will help to support your Land Registry application.
If the title deeds were lost by a firm of solicitors or by a bank or building society, you can ask them to pay for the costs of reconstituting your title.
Are there different classes of title?
Yes, and all registered property is given a class of legal title. There are 4 basic classes, which are:
· Absolute title
· Possessory title
· Qualified title
· Good leasehold title
The Land Register will also specify whether a property is freehold or leasehold. Flats are usually leasehold, as are some houses.
The best class of title is absolute and this is most common. However, if the title deeds are lost and the title is reconstituted, the Land Registry usually only grants possessory title. This means that you are in possession of the land, but this has not been definitively proved. However, you can apply to upgrade a possessory title after 12 years if there is no objection to it.
Qualified title is unusual and is used when there is a defect, or problem, with the title.
Good leasehold title only applies to leasehold property and is used when there is insufficient evidence of the landlord’s authority to grant a lease.
What is Possessory Title?
If the application to the Land Registry to register your property is successful, then where title deeds have been lost, you will normally get a possessory title.
This can affect our ability to sell the property and it may be harder for a buyer to secure a mortgage. As the seller, you will usually be asked to provide an indemnity insurance policy. This is a one-off payment for insurance in case someone else comes forward and says that they own the property. While that kind of insurance policy cannot remedy any problem with the title, it should cover the purchaser for any financial loss they suffer as a result.
Can you sell a house without the deeds?
Yes, it’s certainly possible. However, while a house, flat or land can be sold after the title deeds have gone missing, you may want to wait before you market it.
It takes time to put together a comprehensive application to the Land Registry and for them to consider this and respond. They frequently have a backlog, so it could take several months. If they have queries about replication, this could delay matters. In some cases, they will ask a surveyor to visit the property to look at the boundaries. While you can market your property in the meantime, it is usually better to wait until you have possessory title.
Without the deeds, the buyer’s solicitor may ask you to provide what is known as “a statutory declaration” giving details of the length of time you have owned the property and other details. They are also likely to have more enquiries than normal for your solicitor to answer. That’s because they need to do all they can to satisfy themselves and any lender about the legal situation and in particular the fact that you do own the property.
We regularly deal with reconstituting the title of properties when title deeds have been lost. We also carry out the conveyancing on a subsequent sale. While it is not as straightforward as a normal transaction, it is still possible to sell a property with lost title deeds successfully.
If your property is unregistered, it’s a good idea to have it registered as soon as you can, even if you are not planning on selling at the moment. Having your property properly registered at the Land Registry is much safer. For example, it’s harder for fraudsters to target a registered property and it also removes any risk of losing your title deeds.
Similarly, if you have lost your title deeds but are not thinking of selling at the moment, it is still a good idea to deal with registration now.
We own an unregistered leasehold house, but have lost the lease. what can we do?
The position with a leasehold house is not much different. But the first thing to do is to simply check with the freeholder if they have a copy of the lease. If not then you should try the steps listed above.
What happens if there is a dispute about the title deeds?
Click here to read more about property and land title disputes
