Placing a form A restriction upon a title if a conveyancer neglected to indicate the exact nature of the tenancy at the point of registration, has been the well-established default practice of the Land Registry. The automatic procedure which once usually involved ticking the relevant box on the transfer, may have now have come back to the detriment of conveyancers.
This is largely down to trusts that may or may not be relevant to the title and the Registry’s eagerness to concern itself with them. Around the early 1990s such trusts provided little interest to the Registry. Should the resulting transaction be taken out by fewer than two transferors, a court order is needed by the restriction.
Had this transfer been undertaken by the original two individuals who brought about the restriction, the process would be made a lot less difficult for conveyancers as well as the Registry itself. This would mean the original form A restriction would be overridden – unless there is an application for it to be retained – which should be removed simultaneously.
Currently, the procedure to clear a form A restriction seems complex, and arguably relying on conveyancers to become something “akin to Sherlock Holmes” according to Maidenhead based solicitor, Peter Mason-Apps. The restriction which may have been left by a transferor unable to be traced or a closed conveyancing firm can lead to difficulties Mason-Apps contests, with the matter being one for the original transferring trustees as opposed to the Registry. Presently it is the conveyancer being left with the responsibility of administering sufficient detective skills in order to provide the Registry with the certificate or obtain and complete ST5. Considering the often long period of time which has elapsed however, it may be arguable that observation of the trust should be left instead in the hands of the trustees and free the conveyancer of this seemingly unnecessary burden.
