Discussion
Hi Guys,
So I retired on September 1st. On September 2nd, I used some of my lump sum from my pension to pay off the remainder of my mortgage. On checking the receipt I noticed that apparently, due to the building society’s policy of “dematerialisation” they do not hold the title deeds of my property. It also says that if any title information is required, I should contact the land registry. Now some time ago, I needed to check some information and my previous building society charged me £20 for the privilege of looking through a huge file, all about my property. To put it bluntly, I want the big file and the information it contains, but if the building society don’t have it, who does? I’m assuming that the information will not have been disposed of. Any and all positive/constructive comments will be gratefully received.
Thanks
So I retired on September 1st. On September 2nd, I used some of my lump sum from my pension to pay off the remainder of my mortgage. On checking the receipt I noticed that apparently, due to the building society’s policy of “dematerialisation” they do not hold the title deeds of my property. It also says that if any title information is required, I should contact the land registry. Now some time ago, I needed to check some information and my previous building society charged me £20 for the privilege of looking through a huge file, all about my property. To put it bluntly, I want the big file and the information it contains, but if the building society don’t have it, who does? I’m assuming that the information will not have been disposed of. Any and all positive/constructive comments will be gratefully received.
Thanks
The deeds are likely to be with whoever your mortgage was with, but depending on the bank's requirements at the time you took out the mortgage the deeds might still be with the solicitors who acted at the time.
If they have been lost/binned (which is relatively common nowadays as the Land Registry hold all information electronically and shred any original deeds they are sent) your only option would be to order a copy of the title information from the Land Registry.
They probably won't have all the historic deeds though, as they only put the relevant information on the register of title.
If they have been lost/binned (which is relatively common nowadays as the Land Registry hold all information electronically and shred any original deeds they are sent) your only option would be to order a copy of the title information from the Land Registry.
They probably won't have all the historic deeds though, as they only put the relevant information on the register of title.
When I paid off my mortgage a large pack of papers arrived some weeks later from the building society containing all they had with regard to the purchase and mortgage.
The papers included copies of the HM Registry entries which I assume are the deeds. One of the sheets was a photocopy including the stamp duty stamps totaling £1,400.
The papers included copies of the HM Registry entries which I assume are the deeds. One of the sheets was a photocopy including the stamp duty stamps totaling £1,400.
Edited by uknick on Friday 6th September 11:32
Edited by uknick on Friday 6th September 11:35
Almost all land is now registered. That means there is no need for "deeds" in the old sense of a set of transaction documents for previous purchases all neatly summarised in an epitome of title (indeed, the production of an epitome of title is something of a lost art).
For most practical purposes, all you need or want you can get from HMLR on the payment of a very small fee. All the background paperwork, if it still exists, while potentially interesting is almost certainly not necessary to establish anything that needs to be established.
For most practical purposes, all you need or want you can get from HMLR on the payment of a very small fee. All the background paperwork, if it still exists, while potentially interesting is almost certainly not necessary to establish anything that needs to be established.
Assuming your bank have not provided you with it already, it would be worth you checking an official copy of the registered title to your property to check that they have removed all records of their charge (especially any reference to a charge within an entry which is marked as a “restriction”). They should do this following your redemption of the mortgage, but in practice it does not always happen.
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