On 29th June 2015 the Land Registry introduced Form ST5 to act as a statement of truth, in order to support an application to cancel a Form A restriction.
A Form A restriction is entered onto the proprietorship register where there is a trust of land and is always registered on titles which are registered as a Tenancy in Common.
A Form A restriction provides that:
“No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.”
Essentially, one co-owner will not be able to give a valid receipt for capital money because one co-owner cannot sell without the other co-owner. Form ST5 will therefore act as a statement of truth to confirm what has happened to the beneficial interest protected by the restriction, who the interest has now passed to and how this has happened.
The Land Registry will not simply cancel the restriction upon receipt of a Form ST5, they must be satisfied that the trust has come to an end and the restriction is no longer required. The new form is available on GOV.UK in both Word and PDF formats.
Further to the introduction of the new form, Land Registry has also published an updated edition of their practice guide 73: statements of truth, and revised guidance on joint ownership.
