| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to facilitate Proof of Title to, and the Conveyance of, Real Estates. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 25 & 26 Vict. c. 53 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 29 July 1862 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Statute Law Revision Act 1875 |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Land Registry Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 53) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was the country's first attempt at a system of universal land registration, specifically a title register, applying to England and Wales.[2] It replaced several local deed registries throughout England, which had been established in the early 1700s in order to protect against fraud conducted by undisclosed prior incumbrances on titles.[3][4] The legislation simplified the transfer of land.[3] At the time, land ownership was difficult and expensive, and usually only done by the very privileged.[3] Registration under the 1862 act was also expensive, partially because it was necessary to map and survey the entirety of the property (this was fixed by later legislation).[4] 2,000 properties were registered under the act.[2]
Opponents of deed registration at the time claimed that a general registry was unnecessary.[4] In practice, the conditions of sale at the time circumvented a number of the problems that motivated the legislation.[4] A system of deeds registration was also considered at the time: title registration was a new and untried system.[4] The prior deed registries had a number of problems, including those relating to notice, and the lack of standardized and reliable indexes to the considerably large documents.[4] General registry bills had previously been narrowly lost in Parliament in 1740 and 1758.[5]
This system quickly proved seriously flawed due to high costs and long delays.[5] Following further attempts in 1875 (a failure) and 1897 (a near-failure), the present system was brought into force by the Land Registration Act 1925,[4] as amended by the Land Registration Act 2002.
- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ a b "HM Land Registry: 1862 Act Register". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "1862 property ownership records released". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Howell, Jean (July 1999). "Deeds Registration in England: A Complete Failure?". The Cambridge Law Journal. 58 (2): 366–398. doi:10.1017/S0008197399002056. ISSN 0008-1973.
- ^ a b Mayer, Peter and Pemberton, Alan. "A short history of land registration in England and Wales", Great Britain Land Registry, 2000. Indexed in the Stockport library system, available from a freedom of information request in 2022.