Does anyone out there have any knowledge of property deeds or land registry? Can't seem to go hold of my deeds.

[sandyballs]

We have recently found ourselves in the very fortunate position of being able to pay off our mortgage - thanks to the in-laws.

The Abbey National wrote to us after the final payment to confirm that the charge on the property had now been removed and to contact Land Registry to obtain the title deeds. I rang them and a lady told me that they do not hold any physical hard copies of these deeds anymore, they have all been destroyed . They are now held electronically and I would need to pay 10 quid per section to receive them. Surely as owners of this property the title deeds belong to us and we have a right to see them/keep them. I remember seeing deeds on our old flat years ago and it was basically a pile of papers detailing everything that had gone on in the property since it was built - starting with the original plans and then listing everyone who had lived there. That's what I want for this property. Supposing we decide to sell? What then?

Just wondered if anyone else had had this problem of if there were any property/legal specialists out there who knew the system?

I know it's very dull, but bump.

If you had a mortgage, your deeds would have been held by your lender. When the mortgage is paid off, the lender will return the deeds to you so that you can apply to the Land Registry to have your deeds altered. What your lender holds is a Charge Certificate (this is what you get if any sort of charge is registered against the property). You need to get this changed to a Land Certificate which shows that you own the land free of any charges.

When you paid off the mortgage, did you use a solicitor? Normally the deeds are released in a solicitor's care until the mortgage is redeemed.

I may be a bit out of date now but I think the solicitor who acted for you when you bought the house should have most of your pre registration deeds. The Land Registry only retained those deeds referred to on the register (Abbey should have arranged to have a copy of this sent to you when they discharged the mortgage) - this could be all deeds or even none at all. It doesn't make any difference when you come to sell - the property is registered and the Land Registry guarantee the title. I agree they are nice to have for historical purposes (we've just received ours from our solicitors) but they have no legal significance. HTH

In Scotland this is all now held electroncially - but you can still get all the historical information. It works very well: we gto hold of a copy of our deeds (and for our neighbours people below us as the two need to be read together) for a nomical fee. It did include all the same histrical information that we were given when we bought the place.

It shows us the registered owners: I presume when we sell, then the Land Registry for Scoltand would be informed as part of the sale process and the deed records would be changed.

Thanks for replies. The Abbey National letter said they do not hold a copy of the deeds as they are now held electronically by Land Registry. Then this woman said she wanted 10 pound per section, just seems odd.

No we didn't use a solicitor when we paid the final mortgage fee.

As others have said, there will be no physical deeds. If you want something on paper to satisfy yourself that the charge has been removed, you apply for office copy entries on the land reg. site. It costs £4 or £8 if you want a copy of the file plan.

Charge certs and Land certs no longer exist except for properties which were sold/mortgage cleared several years ago.

It is all part of the government's drive to go electronic. If you want to sell your solicitor will get offical copies of the land registry entry and that is your proof of title.