The electronic future

The 2002 Land Registration Act comes into effect in 10 days' time. It's an important law because its central premise is that all dealings with registered land can and should proceed electronically, something that will make a big difference to conveyancing in the future.

The law stops short of global compulsory registration and the imposition of "e-conveyancing", but there can be no doubt that that is where we are headed.

The government is committed to a future of paperless dealings and electronic conveyancing: this legislation prepares the way.

Law Commission Report number 271, which gave rise to the new law, had the stated objective that "the register should be a complete and accurate reflection of the state of the title of the land at any given time so that it is possible to investigate title to land online, and with the minimum of additional enquiries and inspections".

To achieve this, it is essential that the register is completed, and the legislation makes a number of changes in order to achieve this goal. The Land Registry's taskforce is working to realise the aspiration that the register will account for "every blade of grass in England and Wales" by 2012.

Title by registration
The guiding principle is that from 13 October, "registration and registration alone confers title". A system of title by registration rather than registration of title has no use for paper title documentation. Consequently, land certificates and charge certificates, formerly critical documents to establish title, will become obsolete.

In practical terms, this means that registrations completed after 13 October will not result in the issue of a land or charge certificate. Instead, a title information document will be received. This modest document will be no more than it says, a record of the information held on the register for that title at that date – it will not evidence title.

The new law will allow squatters to apply to the Land Register to be substituted as registered proprietors of the land they squat

Similarly, applications made after 13 October need not be accompanied by a land or charge certificate. Those forwarded to the Land Registry may be held by them and may indeed be destroyed.

Effect on adverse possession
This inversion of the system will have an impact in a number of ways. In the absence of a registered restriction on the title, a proprietor will be deemed to have an unfettered ability to dispose of the land. Other dealings with the Land Register may be effected in default of a response from the registered proprietor to whom notice has been served. The most fundamental of these dealings relates to adverse possession.

The current law of adverse possession may be understood as an opportunity for a squatter to become the legal owner of land by barring the claim of the landowner with paper title and legitimising the squatter's claim. The Law Commission has referred to this as "legitimised land theft". When one considers that this takes place off the Land Register by operation of law, it becomes apparent why it cannot remain within a system where "registration and registration alone confers title".

The new law will allow squatters to apply to be substituted as registered proprietors of the land they squat. The application can be made upon 10 years' possession of the land and will succeed in default of a response by the paper owner to a notice served by the registrar. The Land Registry suggests that the new system will offer a valuable early warning system and hopes that this will expand further the register by encouraging voluntary registration.

Keep up-to-date
However, landowners beware. The notice will be served on the address that appears on the register. It is therefore of crucial importance that register details are maintained and updated.

The reality, however, is that it is extremely uncommon for this to be done at present. Very often the register is not revisited between purchase and sale of land. The social housing sector is a dynamic and mobile one. Name changes and mergers, partnerships and consortia are commonplace, and consequential changes to registered addresses are not infrequent.