CLAUSE 5   POWER TO EXTEND SECTION 4

11. Clause 3 specifies the estates and interests for which application for registration can be made, including all those currently capable of registration. In addition it specifies that the following additional interests:

• profits à prendre in gross (a right to take something from someone else's land, such as soil or minerals);
• franchises (a right granted by the Crown, e.g. to hold a market or fair);
• leases of between 7 and 21 years duration; and
• all discontinuous leases (commonly known as time-shares)

are also capable of registration.

12. Clause 4 lists the events which will trigger compulsory first registration of some of those estates and interests, including all the events which currently act as triggers. It extends the triggers in order to bring more interests in land onto the title register, for example, the length of the term of a lease which must be compulsorily registered is reduced from 21 years to 7 years.

13. Clause 5 delegates to the Lord Chancellor power by order to amend clause 4 to add new events to those which presently trigger first registration of title. This enables the Lord Chancellor to determine when compulsory registration should be extended by adding to the transactions on which it is required. But any new transaction must relate to an unregistered legal estate which is an interest of a kind specified in Clause 5. Any extension of compulsory registration brings additional work for the Land Registry, and - despite the benefits it brings - some additional burdens for the market. It is important for the Lord Chancellor to be able to control and phase the timing of any extension to ensure both have capacity to deal with the additional applications, and that the lessons learned in initial extensions are reflected in subsequent phases.

14. In addition, when making the order the Lord Chancellor is given a Henry VIII power which is limited to making appropriate consequential amendments to other enactments, such as the Law of Property Act 1925. These amendments will be necessary to ensure that the event giving rise to first registration and any subsequent transfer of title to the registered interest operates smoothly under the land registration system and not at odds with it. A similar power to extend compulsory registration, and make consequential amendments to property law, exists under the present law, although the new one is exercisable only after consultation.

CLAUSE 6   DUTY TO APPLY FOR REGISTRATION OF TITLE

15. Clause 6 imposes a duty on defined estate owners to apply for first registration of title in situations where registration of title is compulsory. Clause 6(6) delegates to the Lord Chancellor power to make rules to allow a mortgagee to require the estate charged by the mortgage to be registered whether or not the mortgagor consents. This is a provision of detail, currently dealt with by rule, and can appropriately continue to be so.

CLAUSE 13   APPURTENANT RIGHTS AND CHARGES

16. Clause 13 provides for rules to be made for the proprietor of a registered estate to be registered also as the proprietor of an unregistered estate from which it benefits, for instance a right of way to drainage. It also provides that rules may make provision for a person to be registered as proprietor of an unregistered estate which forms a charge on a registered estate. This would include charges created by statute, such as the recovery of expenses by a local authority for repairing and improving houses. This will ensure that the register gives a clearer picture of the rights and obligations relating to a registered title. Equivalent provisions in the current legislation are already and appropriately dealt with in rules.

CLAUSE 14   RULES ABOUT FIRST REGISTRATION

17. Clause 14 contains a rule making power for the Lord Chancellor to make provision about:

• the making of first registration applications;
• the functions of the registrar in relation to examination of title;
• the creation of entries in the register as a result of the application; and
• the effect of any such entry made in the register.

18. These are matters of procedural detail, governing the proper form of applications, and how the registrar is to give effect to decisions. They reflect existing rule-making powers, with appropriate modifications to reflect the improvements made by this Bill.