Land Registration Support: Land Registration expertise at your fingertips

Have you ever had a situation where you wished you could refer a complex title issue to someone with a high level of expertise in all matters relating to land registration? perhaps you have a Deed of Variation of a leasehold flat over multiple floor levels with variations to the extent, the covenants, also includes the grant of additional rights and the landlord’s title has several incumbrances and restrictions noted on the register. Whilst that may be a highly complex example, the point is you may well have a situation on a file where you are just looking for specific advice or even confirmation that what you have done is in order and also Land Registry compliant. If this resonates with you then please read on.

As you are no doubt aware, Land Registry cannot give specific advice on any title issue, they must remain impartial hence the reason they can only ever direct you to one of their Practice Guides which contain only general guidance. The training they used to offer (they no longer do) was also generic, discussing a topic with a view of improving the quality of your submission.

Land Registry have had (and still do have) some very talented and highly trained individuals with an expertise in Land Registration Law and Practice that is not necessarily prevalent in private practices throughout the country, if only one of them was in a position to offer bespoke support as and when called upon, now wouldn’t that be interesting?

Well, that is exactly what has happened and why we now have a business in the private sector addressing those exact needs, it is called Land Registration Support.

Russell Smith worked at Land Registry for over 20 years and was a very highly regarded senior legal technician. Qualified to degree level in Land Registration Law and Practice, a bespoke course specifically designed for LR staff and run by ILEX/College of Law, he worked in what are known within Land Registry as ‘Senior Casework Teams’ for many years dealing with the most complex of registrations as well as writing and delivering training to LR staff on a vast array of topics.

Russell left in 2009 and moved into private sector conveyancing heading up Post Completion Departments with several different organisations. At each firm he worked for, the same patterns seemed to emerge i.e. there appeared to be a lack of understanding of key topics on the conveyancing floor, training that was lacking land registration detail as well as a general negligence of the post completion operation. Whatever firm he worked for, as soon as conveyancing staff became aware of the depth of his knowledge, he was inundated with queries about how to resolve specific title issues. Now clearly if he had still been at LR, Russell would not have been able to provide the answers to these questions, but in the private sector, well this was quite different. After working at 4 different firms where the same patterns emerged every time staff got to know him, Russell identified an opportunity, an opportunity to offer his skill set to every single conveyancing firm in England and Wales and so, in 2023, Land Registration Support was born.

So, what do Land Registration Support offer?

Well this time you can get specific advice on any particular file i.e. advice on any title issue, whether that be in relation to restrictions, adverse possession , leases, trusts, unregistered title, third party representation, prescriptive rights, devolution of title and so on and so forth in fact it makes no difference what the issues are or even how many there are on a file, the cost is the same as you will see later.

LRS also offer training on topics that are purely Land Registry centric and not available elsewhere, so again: Devolution of Title, Understanding Leases, Adverse Possession, Trust of Land, Restrictions, Unregistered title, Prescriptive Easements, Restrictive Covenants, Easements etc. etc. they will even tailor a training course specifically for the needs of your firm whatever they may be.

LRS have only been in operation just over a year but already have regular work from many different firms both in relation to single file referrals and LR related training sessions. The feedback has been exceptionally positive which can be seen by the testimonials on the website.

When asked about how things have been going, Russell said ‘very positively, the service I offer is new to the market, so I expected firms to be wary at first, but the response overall has been really encouraging. One firm requested a confidentiality agreement prior to sending any referral over to me which of course I was happy to provide, but everything else has been smooth. I charge an extremely low flat-rate fee per file and that covers every query related to Land Registration on that file up to the point of registration. Firms can pick and choose what they send me, they are under no obligation to send me anything but when they do, and then understand the value I bring, the work then appears to significantly increase in volume. What I mean by ‘value’ is that for a very small flat-rate fee, they can save a lot of time on a file trying to work out a tricky or time consuming issue, especially if they are going back and forth with the other side, and if firms save time, they save money and that’s why this works. Improving accuracy improves a firm’s reputation, increases client satisfaction and reduces the likelihood of disputes and compensation liability further down the line and these are the key selling points as far as the referrals go”.

Searches UK, with whom Russell has hosted many training webinars commented:

“It is clear that there is an appetite for the services Russell offers based on how popular his webinars with us are. The training is engaging and the feedback received from those in the industry attending the webinars is fantastic,”

So that’s Land Registration Support in a nutshell, specific Land Registration expertise at your fingertips. If you would like any more information, you will find everything you need by visiting www.landregistrationsupport.co.uk