The Land Registration Act 2002 will come fully into force on 13 October 2003 following publication today of a Commencement Order for the main provisions of the Act.

David Lammy, Minister at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, said:

“The Land Registration Act 2002 is a major contribution to the modernisation and improvement of the civil law in England and Wales. Bringing it into force is an important step towards fulfilling the Government’s commitment to develop a modern basis for land registration, which will make conveyancing faster and cheaper.”

“The reforms will benefit all those who own, buy or sell property and, in particular, will open the way to creating a fully electronic conveyancing system.”

Key changes made by the Act are:

• More information on the register, streamlining conveyancing investigations.
  The Act reduces the number of interests that can exist off the register (overriding interests) and increases the range of interests that can or must be registered, thus reducing the investigations that must be carried out and increasing certainty in property transactions.
  Most importantly, all leases over seven (rather than 21) years will have to be registered. This will bring most leases, and therefore most commercial property transactions, within the scope of the Act.
• Better title for registered owners.
  The interests of registered proprietors are given increased protection against the acquisition of title by squatters. A squatter will not be able to apply to be registered as owner of the land however long he or she may have been in adverse possession, if the existing owner objects, except in very limited and clearly defined circumstances. It is anticipated that this additional protection will encourage owners of currently unregistered land to register their title, helping to complete the Land Register and making the benefits of registered conveyancing more widely available.
• Electronic conveyancing.
  The Act makes possible the development of an electronic conveyancing system. It does this by setting out a framework in which it will be possible to transfer and create interests in registered land by electronic means.
  Land Registry is now building on the results of extensive public consultation, to develop a system to be piloted from 2006.
• Adjudicator.
  The Adjudicator to HM Land Registry is a new office created by the Act. The role of the independent Adjudicator will be to determine disputed land registration applications referred from the Land Registry.