Land Charges Act 1972

Preliminary

The registers and the index

1

• (1) The registrar shall continue to keep at the registry in the prescribed manner the following registers, namely—

• (a) a register of land charges;

• (b) a register of pending actions;

• (c) a register of writs and orders affecting land;

• (d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (e) a register of annuities,

and shall also continue to keep there an index whereby all entries made in any of those registers can readily be traced.

• (2) Every application to register shall be in the prescribed form and shall contain the prescribed particulars.

• (3) Where any charge or other matter is registrable in more than one of the registers kept under this Act, it shall be sufficient if it is registered in one such register, and if it is so registered the person entitled to the benefit of it shall not be prejudicially affected by any provision of this Act as to the effect of non-registration in any other such register.

• (3A) Where any charge or other matter is registrable in a register kept under this Act and was also, before the commencement of the Local Land Charges Act 1975, registrable in a local land charges register, then, if before the commencement of the said Act it was registered in the appropriate local land charges register, it shall be treated for the purposes of the provisions of this Act as to the effect of non-registration as if it had been registered in the appropriate register under this Act; and any certificate setting out the result of an official search of the appropriate local land charges register shall, in relation to it, have effect as if it were a certificate setting out the result of an official search under this Act.

• (4) Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect in relation to the register of annuities.

• (5) An office copy of an entry in any register kept under this section shall be admissible in evidence in all proceedings and between all parties to the same extent as the original would be admissible.

• (6) Subject to the provisions of this Act, registration may be vacated pursuant to an order of the court.

• (6A) The county court have jurisdiction under subsection (6) above—

• (a) in the case of a land charge of Class C(i), C(ii) or D(i), if the amount does not exceed £30,000;

• (b) in the case of a land charge of Class C(iii), if it is for a specified capital sum of money not exceeding £30,000 or, where it is not for a specified capital sum, if the capital value of the land affected does not exceed £30,000;

• (c) in the case of a land charge of Class A, Class B, Class C(iv), Class D(ii), Class D(iii) or Class E if the capital value of the land affected does not exceed £30,000;

• (d) in the case of a land charge of Class F, if the land affected by it is the subject of an order made by the court under section 1 of the Matrimonial Homes Act 1983 or section 33 of the Family Law Act 1996 or an application for an order under either of those sectionsrelating to that land has been made to the court;

• (e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) In this section “index” includes any device or combination of devices serving the purpose of an index.

Registration in register of land charges

The register of land charges

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• (1) If a charge on or obligation affecting land falls into one of the classes described in this section, it may be registered in the register of land charges as a land charge of that class.

• (2) A Class A land charge is—

• (a) a rent or annuity or principal money payable by instalments or otherwise, with or without interest, which is not a charge created by deed but is a charge upon land (other than a rate) created pursuant to the application of some person under the provisions of any Act of Parliament, for securing to any person either the money spent by him or the costs, charges and expenses incurred by him under such Act, or the money advanced by him for repaying the money spent or the costs, charges and expenses incurred by another person under the authority of an Act of Parliament; or

• (b) a rent or annuity or principal money payable as mentioned in paragraph (a) above which is not a charge created by deed but is a charge upon land (other than a rate) created pursuant to the application of some person under any of the enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 to this Act.

• (3) A Class B land charge is a charge on land (not being a local land charge . . . ) of any of the kinds described in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above, created otherwise than pursuant to the application of any person.

• (4) A Class C land charge is any of the following (not being a local land charge), namely—

• (i) a puisne mortgage;

• (ii) a limited owner’s charge;

• (iii) a general equitable charge;

• (iv) an estate contract;

and for this purpose—

• (i) a puisne mortgage is a legal mortgage which is not protected by a deposit of documents relating to the legal estate affected;

• (ii) a limited owner’s charge is an equitable charge acquired by a tenant for life or statutory owner under the Capital Transfer Tax Act 1984or underany other statute by reason of the discharge by him of any capital transfer tax or other liabilities and to which special priority is given by the statute;

• (iii) a general equitable charge is any equitable charge which—

• (a) is not secured by a deposit of documents relating to the legal estate affected; and

• (b) does not arise or affect an interest arising under a trust of land or a settlement; and

• (c) is not a charge given by way of indemnity against rents equitably apportioned or charged exclusively on land in exoneration of other land and against the breach or non-observance of covenants or conditions; and

• (d) is not included in any other class of land charge;

• (iv) an estate contract is a contract by an estate owner or by a person entitled at the date of the contract to have a legal estate conveyed to him to convey or create a legal estate, including a contract conferring either expressly or by statutory implication a valid option to purchase, a right of pre-emption or any other like right.

• (5) A Class D land charge is any of the following (not being a local land charge), namely—

• (i) an Inland Revenue charge;

• (ii) a restrictive covenant;

• (iii) an equitable easement;

and for this purpose—

• (i) an Inland Revenue charge is a charge on land, being a charge acquired by the Board under the Capital Transfer Tax Act 1984;

• (ii) a restrictive covenant is a covenant or agreement (other than a covenant or agreement between a lessor and a lessee) restrictive of the user of land and entered into on or after 1st January 1926;

• (iii) an equitable easement is an easement, right or privilege over or affecting land created or arising on or after 1st January 1926, and being merely an equitable interest.

• (6) A Class E land charge is an annuity created before 1st January 1926 and not registered in the register of annuities.

• (7) A Class F land charge is a charge affecting any land by virtue of the Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996,

• (8) A charge or obligation created before 1st January 1926 can only be registered as a Class B land charge or a Class C land charge if it is acquired under a conveyance made on or after that date.

• (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Registration of land charges

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• (1) A land charge shall be registered in the name of the estate owner whose estate is intended to be affected.

• (1A) Where a person has died and a land charge created before his death would apart from his death have been registered in his name, it shall be so registered notwithstanding his death.

• (2) A land charge registered before 1st January 1926 under any enactment replaced by the Land Charges Act 1925 in the name of a person other than the estate owner may remain so registered until it is registered in the name of the estate owner in the prescribed manner.

• (3) A puisne mortgage created before 1st January 1926 may be registered as a land charge before any transfer of the mortgage is made.

• (4) The expenses incurred by the person entitled to the charge in registering a land charge of Class A, Class B or Class C (other than an estate contract) or by the Board in registering an Inland Revenue charge shall be deemed to form part of the land charge, and shall be recoverable accordingly on the day for payment of any part of the land charge next after such expenses are incurred.

• (5) Where a land charge is not created by an instrument, short particulars of the effect of the charge shall be furnished with the application to register the charge.

• (6) An application to register an Inland Revenue charge shall state the tax in respect of which the charge is claimed and, so far as possible, shall define the land affected, and such particulars shall be entered or referred to in the register.

• (7) In the case of a land charge for securing money created by a company before 1st January 1970 or so created at any time as a floating charge, registration underany of the enactments mentioned in subsection (8) below shall be sufficient in place of registration under this Act, and shall have effect as if the land charge had been registered under this Act.

• (8) The enactments referred to in subsection (7) above are section 93 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, section 79 of the Companies Act 1929 . . . section 95 of the Companies Act 1948 , sections 395 to 398 of the Companies Act 1985 and Part 25 of the Companies Act 2006 and regulations made under section 1052 of that Act.

Effect of land charges and protection of purchasers

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• (1) A land charge of Class A (other than a land improvement charge registered after 31st December 1969) or of Class B shall, when registered, take effect as if it had been created by a deed of charge by way of legal mortgage, but without prejudice to the priority of the charge.

• (2) A land charge of Class A created after 31st December 1888 shall be void as against a purchaser of the land charged with it or of any interest in such land, unless the land charge is registered in the register of land charges before the completion of the purchase.

• (3) After the expiration of one year from the first conveyance occurring on or after 1st January 1889 of a land charge of Class A created before that date the person entitled to the land charge shall not be able to recover the land charge or any part of it as against a purchaser of the land charged with it or of any interest in the land, unless the land charge is registered in the register of land charges before the completion of the purchase.

• (4) If a land improvement charge was registered as a land charge of Class A before 1st January 1970, any body corporate which, but for the charge, would have power to advance money on the security of the estate or interest affected by it shall have that power notwithstanding the charge.

• (5) A land charge of Class B and a land charge of Class C (other than an estate contract) created or arising on or after 1st January 1926 shall be void as against a purchaser of the land charged with it, or of any interest in such land, unless the land charge is registered in the appropriate register before the completion of the purchase.

• (6) An estate contract and a land charge of Class D created or entered into on or after 1st January 1926 shall be void as against a purchaser for money or money’s worth (or, in the case of an Inland Revenue Charge, a purchaser within the meaning of the Capital Transfer Tax Act 1984) of a legal estate in the land charged with it, unless the land charge is registered in the appropriate register before the completion of the purchase.

• (7) After the expiration of one year from the first conveyance occurring on or after 1st January 1926 of a land charge of Class B or Class C created before that date the person entitled to the land charge shall not be able to enforce or recover the land charge or any part of it as against a purchaser of the land charged with it, or of any interest in the land, unless the land charge is registered in the appropriate register before the completion of the purchase.

• (8) A land charge of Class F shall be void as against a purchaser of the land charged with it, or of any interest in such land, unless the land charge is registered in the appropriate register before the completion of the purchase.

Registration in registers of pending actions, writs and orders and deeds of arrangement

The register of pending actions

5

• (1) There may be registered in the register of pending actions—

• (a) a pending land action;

• (b) a petition in bankruptcy filed on or after 1st January 1926.

• (c) a bankruptcy application.

• (2) Subject to general rules under section 16 of this Act, every application for registration under this section shall contain particulars of the title of the proceedings and the name, address and description of the estate owner or other person whose estate or interest is intended to be affected.

• (3) An application for registration shall also state—

• (a) if it relates to a pending land action, the court in which and the day on which the action was commenced; ...

• (b) if it relates to a petition in bankruptcy, the court in which and the day on which the petition was filed,and

• (c) if it relates to a bankruptcy application, the date on which the bankruptcy application was made.

• (4) The registrar shall forthwith enter the particulars in the register, in the name of the estate owner or other person whose estate or interest is intended to be affected.

• (4A) Where a person has died and a pending land action would apart from his death have been registered in his name, it shall be so registered notwithstanding his death.

• (5) An application to register a petition in bankruptcy against a firm shall state the names and addresses of the partners, and the registration shall be effected against each partner as well as against the firm.

• (6) No fee shall be charged for the registration of a petition in bankruptcy if the application for registration is made by the registrar of the court in which the petition is filed.

• (6A) No fee shall be charged for the registration of a bankruptcy application.

• (7) A pending land action shall not bind a purchaser without express notice of it unless it is for the time being registered under this section.

• (8) A bankruptcy application or petition in bankruptcy shall not bind a purchaser of a legal estate in good faith, for money or money’s worth, . . . unless it is for the time being registered under this section.

• (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (10) The court, if it thinks fit, may, upon the determination of the proceedings, or during the pendency of the proceedings if satisfied that they are not prosecuted in good faith, make an order vacating a registration under this section, and direct the party on whose behalf it was made to pay all or any of the costs and expenses occasioned by the registration and by its vacation.

• (11) The county court has jurisdiction under subsection (10) of this section where the action was brought or the petition in bankruptcy was filed in that court.

The register of writs and orders affecting land

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• (1) There may be registered in the register of writs and orders affecting land—

• (a) any writ or order affecting land issued or made by any court for the purpose of enforcing a judgment or recognisance;

• (b) any order appointing a receiver or sequestrator of land;

• (c) any bankruptcy order, whether or not the bankrupt’s estate is known to include land,

• (d) any access order under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992.

• (1A) No writ or order affecting an interest under a trust of land may be registered under subsection (1) above.

• (2) Every entry made pursuant to this section shall be made in the name of the estate owner or other person whose land, if any, is affected by the writ or order registered.

• (2A) Where a person has died and any such writ or order as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) above would apart from his death have been registered in his name, it shall be so registered notwithstanding his death.

• (3) No fee shall be charged for the registration of a bankruptcy order if the application for registration is made by an official receiver.

• (4) Except as provided by subsection (5) below and by section 37(5) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 and section 107(3) of the County Courts Act 1984 (which make special provision as to receiving orders in respect of land of judgment debtors) every such writ and order as is mentioned in subsection (1) above, and every delivery in execution or other proceeding taken pursuant to any such writ or order, or in obedience to any such writ or order, shall be void as against a purchaser of the land unless the writ or order is for the time being registered under this section.

• (5) Subject to subsection (6) below, the title of a trustee in bankruptcy shall be void as against a purchaser of a legal estate in good faith for money or money’s worth unless the bankruptcy order is for the time being registered under this section.

• (6) Where a bankruptcy application or petition in bankruptcy has been registered under section 5 above, the title of the trustee in bankruptcy shall be void as against a purchaser of a legal estate in good faith for money or money’s worth . . . claiming under a conveyance made after the date of registration, unless at the date of the conveyance either—

• (a) the registration of the application or the petition is in force; or

• (b) a receiving order on the application or the petition is registered under this section.

The register of deeds of arrangement affecting land

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Expiry and renewal of registrations

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