The purpose of this post is to provide a simple guide in relation to Form LL restrictions.
According to gov.uk if a Form LL (Restriction as to evidence of execution) is present in your Official Copy Entries, then it will be worded as follows, ‘No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate/registered charge dated {date} referred to above by the proprietor of that registered charge is to be registered without a certificate signed by a conveyancer that that conveyancer is satisfied that the person who executed the document submitted for registration as disponor is the same person as the proprietor.’
What are Official Copy Entries?
If you own a property, then that property is likely to be registered at HM Land Registry (unless it is unregistered). Official Copy Entries are effectively the modern version of what you might have previously called Title Deeds. Your Official Copy Entries will be available to purchase from HM Land Registry. They will reveal a number of matters to the current owner or the prospective buyer, including the property address, who owns the property, whether there are any covenants, whether there are any restrictions and whether there are any charges registered against the property, amongst other important things that your solicitor will be happy to explain.
What is a Restriction?
A restriction is special wording contained in the Official Copy Entries. The purpose of this wording is to effectively prevent something from happening to the property, such as a sale or a charge (mortgage), without adequate steps first being taken. A really common example that you would see on Official Copy Entries where the property has a mortgage, would be a restriction requiring the current lender’s consent before the property is sold or any additional mortgage is registered against the property. This protects the lender’s interest in the property. They are making sure that the mortgage is either repaid on completion of a sale or that they remain as the most important lender if the property needs to be repossessed.
What Does the Form LL Restriction Actually Mean?
A https://www.parachutelaw.co.uk/form-ll-land-registry-restriction Form LL restriction is essentially an anti-fraud restriction. It is there to make sure that the person who is selling (or otherwise dealing with) the property really is the person who is selling the property.
The restriction would have been placed on the Official Copy Entries at the time that the property was purchased. The purchaser’s conveyancer would have offered to do this, and the purchaser would have agreed. Any owner can apply to have this restriction placed on the Official Copy Entries, but they are particularly useful for owners who do not actually live in their properties (care home residents, for example) or owner’s who do not have a mortgage as these properties are more at risk of property fraud.
If you are now in the process of selling, transferring, remortgaging or placing a second charge on your home, a solicitor will need to verify the identity of the owners to ensure that they really are the owners according to the Official Copy Entries. A solicitor will do this by inspecting your passport or driving licence and comparing the signature on it to the signature on the documents already held by the Land Registry, such as the Mortgage Deed, for example.
Once a solicitor has verified the owner’s identity, they will be able to produce what is known as a Certificate of Compliance which can then be submitted to HM Land Registry to get around the restriction.
