Fees for buying an unregistered property

HM Land Registry is a department of the UK Government which records the ownership of property and land in England and Wales. Under the Land Registration Act 1925, compulsory registration was introduced which was gradually phased into counties across the country. By 1990, compulsory registration was in effect across the whole country.

The Land Registration Act 2002 increased the triggers for compulsory registration to the extent that all residential property transactions now give rise to registration, even if no money is changing hands. This means that if an unregistered property is being left to someone else in a will for example, the property would have to be registered when it passed to the new owner.

As you would expect, fees have to be paid to the Land Registry when a property is registered for the first time. 

Our clients commonly experience land registration fees on completion of their property purchases. On payment of their fee, the Land Registry will update the property's title register to note the new owners and any mortgage charges they may have.

The fee payable is calculated on an increasing scale in accordance with factors such as the price paid for the property and whether there is a transfer of whole or part of the land.

From Monday 31 January 2022, the Land Registry will be increasing their fees for the first time since 2009. On a residential freehold transfer of a whole property, the fee increases are as follows:

For properties with a value of up to £100,000 the fees will stay the same, at the relatively low figure of either £20 or £40.

For properties with a value of between £100,001 to £200,000, the fee will increase from £95 to £100. Where the value of a property is between £200,001 and £500,000 the fee will rise to £150, from the current fee of £135. 

For more expensive properties, the fees are higher. For properties with a value from £500,001 to £1,000,000, the fee is increasing from £270 to £295 and for properties worth more than £1,000,001, the fee is increasing from £455 to £500. 

We calculate the appropriate fee for our clients, based on the value of their particular transaction. When providing you with a conveyancing quote we detail all third party charges including land registration fees. This way, there are no hidden costs at the end of your matter and no need for us to estimate the fee payable based on Land Registry’s rather complex fee scales - we will be able to give you an exact figure.

If you need advice about buying or selling your property, whether you are looking to purchase an unregistered property or if you own an unregistered property which you are wishing to voluntarily register,  we can help. Please get in touch with our expert conveyancing team who will be happy to discuss the process with you.