Transfer of Title

There are a number of reasons why you may wish to change the names on the property register at the Land Registry. For example, you may wish to add another person as a result of marriage, or remove a person as a result of divorce.

It may be that you wish to transfer ownership of a property to a family member by way of a gift or that there has been a change in circumstances and one of the owners has died. In this case a DJP form will be required to notify the register accordingly.

To ensure the correct procedure is followed, we would recommend using a solicitor, however you can complete the forms by yourself. There are many forms and it is important that the right ones are selected. To instruct the Land Registry of your intention to make an application to change the register you will need to complete an AP1 form.

In support of your application you will also need to submit a TR1, TR2, TR3 or TP1 form depending on what your intentions are. The TR1 form, is the most common, when you want to ‘transfer of whole of registered title’ of a property.

Other forms include the submitting of an ID1 form. This is critical if you are doing the application yourself as it is necessary to identify you to ensure that there is no fraudulent activity. This form will in itself need verifying by a Solicitor, Barrister or Notary Public.

Furthermore there are other considerations, such as Stamp Duty to pay, whether there is any Capital Gains Tax liability or Inheritance Tax to pay. If is also important to calculate correctly the fees due to the Land Registry.

Where there is an existing mortgage, the lender will normally require a solicitor to be involved. They will need to give their consent to the new owner/owners and may require new credit assessments of them.

Making an application ✎

A good starting place would be to use the Land Registry’s online search capabilities. You will have to pay a small fee, but it will be useful in checking that the property is registered and what information the register holds.

gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Entries may include restrictions requiring action before a transfer can be made, examples of which include: Consent to transfer by a person or a certificate complying with certain conditions.

If the property is leasehold, there may be a requirement to obtain the landlord’s consent. If the property is mortgaged, there may be a requirement to get the lender’s consent or discharge it.

Completing an AP1 form ☑

Most of the boxes are straight forward to complete, the first requires you to enter the name of the borough or local authority where council tax is paid. The next requires the ‘Title Number’. This is a unique number allocated to a property by the Land Registry, similar to a car registration number (i.e. NWX8610). This is to ensure that there is no confusion with any other piece of property or land.

In the next box 3 ‘The application effects’, you need to put a cross in a box e.g. if it effects ’the whole of your property’.

In box 4 ‘Application, priority & fees’, it is important to list each application individually on a separate line, e.g. “Transfer by the way of gift”. The value of the property needs to be entered alongside e.g. £375,000. The next figure is for the amount of fees due to the Land Registry. These fees are calculated by taking the full market value less whatever mortgage remains, divided by the number of shares (owners). With this figure, you can determine what you need to pay via their fee scale.

Box 5, ‘Documents lodged’ requires you to list the documents you are sending to support the application such as a TR1 form, an ID1 form. These must be listed individually and need to be certified copies.

Box 6, ‘The applicant’, is where you write the name or names of the people who are applying to change the register, e.g. John Ian Smith and Sarah Jane Smith.

Box 7, ‘The application is sent to the Land Registry by:’, is where you provide a correspondence address/email/phone.

Box 8, ‘Third party notification’, complete this if you want the Land Registry to notify someone else that they have completed the application.

Box 9, ‘Addresses of owner/owners’, is where you can enter up to 3 addresses for each owner.

Box 10, This box should be completed if there is a new charge (mortgage). The lender will normally want a solicitor to be involved should it be a new mortgage.

Box 11, ‘Overriding interests’, this box is most likely to be left blank, but deals with property that has:

• Leases granted from 1-7 years
• Manorial rights
• Chancel repairs.

Box 12, ‘Identification’.

Box 14, ‘Details of the transferor & conveyancer’, if not represented by a solicitor then you must complete an ID1 form. Identification is needed if you have inherited the property or have been registered as the new owner without a solicitor. Evidence will be required if your name has been changed by ‘deed poll’, ‘statement of truth’ or ‘statutory declaration’. This is not required if your name has changed as a result of marriage or civil partnership.

Completing an ID1 form ☑

In completing an ID1 form for verification you will need to supply a passport size photos with your face clearly visible. Either a current passport, driving license or ID card. Two of the one of the following:

• A credit card supported with a paper account statement no more than 3 months old.
• A utility bill less than 3 months old.
• A council tax bill for the year.
• A council rent book for the last 3 months.
• A paper mortgage statement.

Completing a TR1 form ☑

The form similarly consists of a number of panels with check boxes, most of which are fairly obvious starting with the Property title reference number.

The person making the transfer, the current owner is referred to as the “transferor” and the person who is receiving the transfer, (in a purchase, the buyer) is referred to as the “transferee”.

For example if Mr Smith wants to add his wife to the property title, he would put his name as the transferor in panel 3.4. In panel 3.5 he would put his wife’s full name as the transferee. He would also need to put his own name here as well, otherwise he would be transferring all of the property to her.

Areas where I may need legal advice?

The first of which is a ‘Full title guarantee’. This is a promise that to the best of your knowledge there are no mortgages against the property, no right of way over it and nobody has a lease on it. No one else has any interest in it other than what has already been declared.

The second option ’Limited title guarantee’ is a lesser guarantee by promising that no mortgage has been taken out on the property and that no one else has an interest in the property that still exists at the date of the transfer.

In section panel 10 there is the ‘declaration of trust’. If a property is to be jointly owned there are two options:

• 1) Beneficial joint tenants
• 2) Joint tenants in common

If ‘beneficial joint tenants’ is selected then there are no specific shares registered in the property. It is equally owned by both who can enjoy the benefit of it. When one owner dies the property automatically goes to the other owner/owners.

If joint ownership is declared as ‘tenants in common’, then specific shares in the property are owned. These can be owned in any denomination, i.e. 60% and 40%. The owner of the shares can also make a provision in their will to leave their share to someone else.

If you don’t complete section panel 10, then the Land Registry will put a ‘Form A Restriction’ in the register. This could have adverse implications for you in the future.

In section panel 11 there is a requirement to declare Additional provisions. These are in the form of Covenants and agreements that may have been made by you between and the other party.

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