One of the constants in every, Purchase, Re-mortgage and Transfer of Equity transaction is the land registry fee.
- This fee is the cost paid to HM Land Registry to change the details on the title deeds of the property your conveyancer is transacting on for you. This is done to maintain a database of all registered properties in England and Wales.
- The database is useful to conveyancers of course, but also to lenders.
- These details include the change of ownership, as well as adding and removal of any mortgages or other entries on the deeds.
- If you have every bought a car you will have completed the V5, this is the property version of it but with a fee based on the value of the property.
The process is very straight forward:
- Your conveyancer will complete a AP1 form (for properties already on the Land Registry database) or an FR1 (for properties not on the Land Registry database). Only around 3% of transactions are for unregistered properties. The completion of this form is all done online with support information added as required.
- The application is the dealt with by the Land registry. They will raise any questions for you Conveyancer to action if required.
- HM Land Registry will return the title deeds updated “Completion of Registration” at the end.
The fees are used to cover salaries for the 6000 strong staff in 14 locations, but also to fund the complex infrastructure.
Hold ups are usually caused by inaccurate or unclearly logged information on applications, or missing applications.
View the government website to see the latest information on land registry fees: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fees-hm-land-registry-guides and to use the government calculator, click here: http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/fees-calculator.html
Land registry fees calculator