Q: Title to my house is not registered at the Land Registry. I have heard that it is possible to register my title voluntarily, and that there is a 25 per cent discount available to do so. Does it really matter that my home is not currently registered?

A: About half the properties in England and Wales have their title registered at the Land Registry. For the time being, you don’t have to register your title, but you will have to do so when the land is sold or mortgaged. The Government has announced that it wants to have every property on the register by 2012.

When you first apply for registration you will have to pay a fee of between £30 and £525, depending on the value of your property. In an attempt to encourage people to register voluntarily, the Land Registry has just announced a 25 per cent discount on these fees.

Apart from the fee, the main disadvantage with registration is privacy. The owner’s name and details of mortgages and other rights will be publicly available on the internet. If you have lost your title deeds or they are inaccurate or incomplete, another problem is that it may takea lot of time and trouble to identify exactly who owns what before you can apply to register.

The main advantage with registration is that title is guaranteed. This means that it doesn’t matter if the deeds get lost or eaten by the dog, and if there is a mistake on the register it is the Land Registry that pays compensation. When you sell your house it makes the conveyancing quicker and cheaper, because solicitors have to check only the register rather than sorting through lots of rusty old deed boxes. Finally, you have much better protection against squatters who can gain title to unregistered land by occupying for 12 years. It is much harder for them to do this if the land is registered.

Mark Loveday is a barrister at Tanfield Chambers (020-7421 5300). E-mail your questions to: property.consumer@thetimes.co.uk

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