First registration of title to unregistered land

Introduction

Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Act sets out the categories of land which are subject to a requirement for compulsory registration. These are:

• ​freehold land acquired under the Land Purchase Acts
• land which is sold or leased for a period in excess of 21 years
• land compulsorily acquired by a government department or other public or local body
• leases created out of registered land which are for a term exceeding twenty one years or which are for the term of a life or lives
• fee farm rents and certain sporting and fishing rights held in gross which are created out of registered land
• any estate in land which is required by any statutory provision to be registered in the Land Registry. (In the past the most common registrations in this category were made under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act 1899)

An application for registration (whether compulsory or voluntary) may be made with a good fee farm grant title, a good leasehold title, an absolute title, a qualified title or a possessory title. A brief guide to appropriate classes of title is set out in Table A.

Table A

If in any of the above instances there is a 'gap' in title, arising after the date of the root of title, this must be disclosed in the application.

Applications for first registration are governed by Rules 11 to 15 (as amended). Applications for first registration should be made using LR form 1.

The following precedents are based on that form and are designed to portray some reasonably common situations. They may, of course, be amended as circumstances require.

• Precedent 3.A - Application for a good fee farm grant title
• Precedent 3.B - Application for a good leasehold title
• Precedent 3.C - Application for an absolute fee simple title
• Precedent 3.D - Application for an absolute title where the freehold was acquired under the Ground Rents Act (NI) 2001

Please also see Land Registry Practice Direction 2/2011 - Freehold titles acquired under the Ground Rents Act (Northern Ireland) 2001.

The documents to be lodged in the Registry are:

• the Form 1 application for first registration duly completed and signed by a Solicitor
• an up-to-date Ordnance Survey map on the largest published scale – ideally an ACE (Address Centred Extract) map which is available from the OSNI online map shop – with the boundaries outlined accurately in red; the map should, of course, show the outline of the entire property, not just the house
• the root of title, (ie. the original fee farm grant, lease or conveyance) and any Certificate of Redemption under the Ground Rents (NI) Act 2001
• the purchase deed
• the purchaser’s mortgage (if any) together with a duplicate or certified copy if a Certificate of Charge is required
• any other deed which created a right or an encumbrance, and which has been referred to in Form 1
• LR form 100 and the appropriate registration fee, including a fee for a new Land Certificate, if required

Lost deeds

For more information on Lost deeds, please see:

• Practice Direction 3/2015 - First registration - Lost deeds and the Compulsory first registration forms
• Lost deeds application forms LD1 and LD2

Variations for applications for a qualified title

Complete Panel 5 of LR form1 by ticking the box, and for qualified title indicate the reason why the title should be qualified. Alternatively, the application may be made in accordance with rule 12 (as amended).

• Precedent 3.F - Variations for insertion in an application for a qualified title
• Precedent 3.G - Application in Form 2 for registration with a qualified title
• Precedent 3.H - Application for a qualified title where the deeds have been lost or destroyed

Application for a possessory title

Form 1 should not be used where title to land has been acquired by way of adverse possession. Such applications should be based on the applicant's own affidavit (Precedent 7.E) and be supported by a corroborative affidavit of an independent person (Precedent 7.F).

• Precedent 7.E - Application for first registration with a possessory title
• Precedent 7.F - Corroborative affidavit (unregistered land)

A vesting order relating wholly or partly to unregistered land must be lodged in the Registry along with an application for first registration of the title to that land. The following precedent has the advantage of avoiding the need for the production of Registry of Deeds searches against a public body.

• Precedent 3.E - Application in respect of a vesting order

Cautions against first registration

Anyone entitled to an interest in unregistered land, who is concerned that some other person may intend to apply for first registration of that land, may apply for a caution against first registration by lodging an application (Precedent 3.I) together with an up-to-date Ordnance Survey map, on the largest published scale, ideally an ACE (Address Centred Extract) map which is available from the OSNI online map shop – with the boundaries outlined accurately in red. The application should be accompanied by LR form 100 and the appropriate fee (see Section 65 and Rule 17).

• Precedent 3.I - Caution against first registration