What happens with the house deeds when you pay off your mortgage?

[cava2nite]

We're in a fortunate position to have paid off our Nationwide mortgage today, with the help of an inheritance from my mum who sadly died recently. Does this mean that the house deeds (or whatever the ownership papers are called) will be sent to us? I'm sure I remember reading several years ago that it's best to leave a few pounds owing to the lender, to make sure the deeds continue to be stored safely. However, perhaps things have changed because I saw nothing about it on Nationwide's website during the repayment process.

I'm in England. Hopefully the Nationwide will send me a helpful letter that will make it clear if I need to do anything re a discharge. But, if not, I'll investigate further.

The bank gave us our deeds
Really interesting ..lots of old papers and old plans
House was built 1930

My lender sent me a letter and mortgage statement with the balance showing as zero/paid in full. The letter said to keep the statement (and letter) as proof that the debt (mortgage) was paid off (worded more legally than that though!). The letter also said I could apply to my solicitor to get the paper deeds but that this wasn't mandatory as the details of ownership/residence are recorded at the Land Registry (who couldn't care less whether or not the mortgage is paid off).

Edited to add: I keep this letter and statement in a safe / fireproof place as it is proof I no longer owe the mortgage lender any money should that ever be in dispute for whatever reason.

The lender sends them to you

My house is over 100 years old. We were sent the deeds and the historical deeds when we paid off our mortgage. They are beautiful documents written in fancy handwriting on stiff quality paper. I love looking at them. In contrast, our recent deeds are a few typed lines on thin paper, such a shame.

Only if the lender holds the title deeds. It's usually the solicitor who has them.

Nationwide wouldn't store our deeds. They are in the strong room of the solicitor firm we used (I hope).

The deeds are all electronic now, you won’t receive anything

I never received deeds. Just got a letter from mortgage company saying i'd paid it off

I've got my house deeds. 25 years still to go. I asked if the solicitor would keep them, but apparently they don't.

It would depend if the deeds were digital and held with the land registry. If they weren't, they would be sent to you on redemption of the mortgage. Your mortgage provider will be able to tell you if they hold the physical deeds or if they are digital.

Keeping a small balance on the mortgage in order for the bank/building society to retain the deeds is called a frozen mortgage (or at least it is where I work). Depending on how low you keep the balance, your monthly payment would be pennies, however not all financial institutions offer this.

I'm in Scotland too and you've just reminded me I need to do this. It pisses me right off tbh that i need to pay a solicitor to do something that in an electronic age should surely be very simple.

If the property is registered title, you might get a letter from your mortgage provider and that's it.
No big fanfare I'm afraid!

We got a letter from Nationwide saying we'd paid it off and they had updated the land registry.

It was the day before lockdown so we couldn't even celebrate it with a meal out.

Yep, peed me off mightily. Nice efficient woman on the phone told me that technically you don't need a solicitor but you need to pay the fees regardless and the wording needs to be very specific and if you don't get it right then it will be returned but they still charge the fees. So in effect you'd likely be throwing money away. If the solicitor got it wrong they'd have to bear the first lot of fees as they are meant to know what they are doing.

I suspect you might get it done for a little cheaper than my solicitor charges but they are handling my separation and removal of my ex from the deeds as well as my new mortgage so it was easier to get them to sort this first. I obviously can't get a new mortgage with the charge remaining and as I am now old, I wouldn't get a mortgage with the lender on the charge.

We've got ours, they are interesting as its a Victorian house. I am also registered for the email alerts from the Land Registry.

We were sent the deeds when we paid the mortgage off. We live in a 200 year old cottage and the paperwork about all the previous owners was fascinating. Gave them (in Scotland, so they provide proof of our ‘seisins’) to our solicitor to keep in the safe.

Does anyone know when they started storing the information electronically and the paper deeds became unnecessary ?
So, does it matter if you bought your house a long time ago - would they still be registered electronically or should home owners who have perhaps lived in their house 30 years still have the paper ones ?

How did they do that? That's something I would like to do.

@DragonFly98 youd be best to speak to your lender

It depends when you bought the house. Compulsory registration in England and Wales has been piecemeal and not sort of consolidated until 1990. So depending on where you are and when you bought your house it may not be registered- they have a system where sale or transfer triggers first registration- so if for example your grandparent lives in a house they bought in 1976 then that may not be yet registered but when they sell it it will be at that point.

But it depends on alot of factors! This gov.uk explanation says it better than me.

So- I guess- if you bought the land a long time ago and do not have the deeds (and it is not registered) then you will need to find out where they are- if the land is not registered they ought to be with your solicitor or mortgage company if mortgaged.

https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2019/05/30/registering-land-for-more-than-150-years/

About 1990 give or take. But even now a few houses are not on. So the house I'm in now was bought new in 1937 and stayed in the same hands til I bought it. in 2015. Then it was put on the land registry. The buying process triggered the addition to the registry.

The man who owned it died, so it had to go through probate and adding to registry. It took all in a year to go through. Which wasnt too bad. I've seen all the deeds and many many papers, he kept them all. Which is nice for historical reasons. But it's still just a 30s semi.

I'm surprised by how many people on this thread think they have paper deeds. Unless you bought your property a very long time ago, it will all be electronic (in England at least). Paper deeds from before digital registration might be of historical interest but are not the legal documents showing ownership and don't need to be held by a bank or solicitor.

There are a lot of people who have lived in their houses longer than the electronic system has existed, my parents, several of their neighbours, several or our neighbours have all lived in the same houses for 50+ years. I know my parents house isn’t electronic because I tried to add theirs to my email alerts (they moved there in the 1970s). In fact I must ask them where they are.

Lots of paper deeds are still around. My paper ones are in the house from when we bought 11 years ago. Electronically we’re still done online. My house was a late 70s build.