Guidance

Practice guide 17: souvenir land

Updated 24 June 2015

Applies to England and Wales

Please note that HM Land Registry’s practice guides are aimed primarily at solicitors and other conveyancers. They often deal with complex matters and use legal terms.

1. Introduction

During the 1970s and 1980s, schemes were set up for the sale of very small plots of land with sentimental or commemorative value only. These schemes were often promoted for conservation purposes. All such land was known as ‘souvenir land’.

2. Legislation

When souvenir land schemes first appeared the small size of the plots and the number of titles in a very small area posed considerable potential problems for HM Land Registry. Under the Land Registration (Souvenir Rules) 1972, the Chief Land Registrar was given the power to declare an area subject to a souvenir land scheme (‘scheme’). The main effect of this declaration was that the purchasers of individual plots didn’t have to register their transactions at HM Land Registry. The declaration could be made against both registered and unregistered land.

This has now changed as a result of the Land Registration Act 2002. Souvenir land declaration schemes are abolished and any transaction with the land formerly affected by a scheme, or any part of it, must now be registered.

The Land Registration Act 2002 has also changed the way in which the registered proprietor of a registered scheme can deal with their title. You can recognise a title that was formerly a scheme by the following restriction in the register:

“No disposition is to be registered without the consent of the person or persons (if any) entitled to apply to be registered as proprietor of the land disposed of, or any part of it, as the result of any unregistered transaction effected since [the date of the declaration made under rule 3 of the Land Registration (Souvenir Rules) 1972 as noted in the register].”

3. Applications

On any future purchase of land formerly affected by a scheme, you must register the transaction at HM Land Registry. The type of application will depend upon whether the scheme is registered and whether the transaction relates to part or the whole of the scheme. To find out if a scheme is registered, you must apply for an official search of the index map – see practice guide 10: index map - official search.

If you do not require indemnity provisions in respect of an index map search you could consider using MapSearch. This service is available free of charge for Business e-services customers who have portal access and provides immediate search results.

Original documents are required only if your application is a first registration. We will return the originals once the application has been completed. If your application is not a first registration then we will need only certified copies of deeds or documents you send to us with HM Land Registry applications. Once we have made a scanned copy of the documents you send to us, they will be destroyed. This applies to both originals and certified copies.

3.1 Purchase of an individual plot

3.1.1 Where the scheme is registered

• you must use application form AP1
• you must include all deeds and documents of title, beginning with the first sale-off which created the plot
• before we complete an application to register a plot we will serve notice on the registered proprietor of the scheme informing them of the application
• after we have registered the plot with its own title number, subsequent purchasers of that plot must apply for registration in the normal way, using form AP1

3.1.2 Where the scheme is unregistered

• you must make any application for first registration of an individual plot in form FR1
  • for more information, see practice guide 1: first registrations
• after we have registered the plot with its own title number, subsequent purchasers of that plot must apply for registration in the normal way, using form AP1

3.2 Voluntary registration of an individual plot

The current owner of a plot purchased out of a registered scheme may make a voluntary application for registration at any time using form AP1. There is no fee.

3.3 Purchase of the whole of a scheme

3.3.1 Where the scheme is registered

• you must use application form AP1
• the effect of the declaration was that transactions relating to a registered scheme subsequently took effect as if the land in question were not registered
  • therefore, there will be cases where the registered proprietor is not the person from whom the applicant has bought the land
  • if this is so, you must send us evidence of the chain of title from the registered proprietor to the vendor
• any registered scheme previously affected by a declaration will have the restriction, referred to in Legislation, on its register

This restriction will prevent us from registering a transaction with the whole or part of the scheme unless you provide the consent of the owners of all plots affected that have been sold off and remain unregistered. To simplify a future transaction, the registered proprietor can apply at any time to cancel this restriction. They must satisfy us that there have been no transactions with the land, or a particular part of it, since the declaration was made.

3.3.2 Where the scheme is not registered

• you must make any application for first registration of the land in form FR1
  • for more information, see practice guide 1: first registrations
• as with any first registration, you must account for all individual plots sold off so that we can exclude them from the registered extent

4. Things to remember

Incorrect applications cause delays. Please check and ensure that you have satisfied the following requirements.

• an application to register a transaction involving a souvenir plot, when the scheme land is registered, must be made using form AP1
  • the fee is payable under the current Land Registration Fee Order (see HM Land Registry: Registration Services fees)
• an application to register a souvenir plot, when the scheme land is unregistered, must be made using form FR1
  • the fee is payable under the current Land Registration Fee Order (see HM Land Registry: Registration Services fees)
• a voluntary application to register the current owner of a souvenir plot, when the scheme land is registered, may be made using form AP1
  • no fee is payable
• an application to register a transfer of the scheme land where it is already registered must be made using form AP1
  • the fee is payable under the current Land Registration Fee Order (see HM Land Registry: Registration Services fees)
• an application to register the scheme land, where it is currently unregistered, must be made using form FR1
  • the fee is payable under the current Land Registration Fee Order (see HM Land Registry: Registration Services fees)
• You must lodge all relevant deeds and documents with all applications

Note 1: Original documents are only required if your application is a first registration; we will return the original once the application has been completed. If your application is not a first registration then we will need only certified copies of deeds or documents you send to us with HM Land Registry applications. Once we have made a scanned copy of the documents you send to us, they will be destroyed. This applies to both originals and certified copies.

Note 2: Please note that HM Land Registry may be unable to process applications that are incomplete or defective and your application will risk losing its priority if we have to return it to you – see practice guide 49: return and rejection of applications for registration for more information.

We only provide factual information and impartial advice about our procedures. Read more about the advice we give.