The Reform of Property Law and the Land Registration Act 2002_ A Risk Assessment

The Reform of Property Law and the Land Registration Act 2002:
A Risk Assessment
1


The Land Registration Act 2002 has been received with much critical acclaim, and
rightly so. It is a work of monumental importance and monumental effort. Law
Commission Report No. 271
2
was itself the last in a long series of Reports discussing,
proposing, rejecting and recommending changes to the fundamentals of the land
registration system established by the Land Registration Act 1925.
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As is well known, the
Act of 2002, which is now set for entry in to force on October 13 2003,
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is designed to
revolutionise conveyancing in England and Wales and to bring the land registration
system established by the 1925 Land Registration Act into the modern age.
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Indeed, in
terms of its underlying rationale, the Act of 2002 shares much with its 1925 counterpart.
Both were born of the recognition that the systems they were designed to replace were
(and are) no longer suitable for the social and economic conditions of the time. The 1925
Act is still seen by some as an interloper, polluting the purity of the historic principles of

1
. This paper was given in this long form at the WG Hart Symposium, University of London, 2002. A
shorter version was published first in The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer, 2003.
2
. Land Registration for the Twenty-first Century: A Conveyancing Revolution (2001).
3
. Two earlier Reports (Law Commission Reports No. 158 (1987) and 173 (1988)) were produced on the
Commission’s own initiative. Law Commission Report No. 235 (1995), leading to the Land Registration
Act 1997, was the first written jointly with the Land Registry. The second joint Report, Land Registration
for the Twenty-First Century (No. 254, 1998) formed the basis of much of the third joint report, No. 271,
which contains final proposals and the draft of what is now the LRA 2002.
4
. See the Land Registration Act 2002 website at http://wendang.chazidian.comndreg.gov.uk. The rationale for
choosing this unusual date is unknown, but entry into force is dependant on the completion of relevant
Land Registration Rules. A consultation paper and an initial set of draft rules have been produced, see
http://wendang.chazidian.comndreg.gov.uk/content/rules/default.asp.
5
. It is anticipated that fully functional electronic conveyancing will be rolled out on a voluntary basis in
2006/7, following a (hopefully) successful pilot in 2005, see Lord Chancellor’s consultation document, e-
conveyancing, A Land Registration Consul tation, May 2002. See also Lord Chancellor’s Department
Consultation Paper: A Draft Order under section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000, March
2001 and the Consultation Response, December 2001, regarding the formalities for the completion of
electronic contracts.