Title deed copies - who keeps them.

[CIS121]

I've just bouhgt a house with a mortgage (my first encumbered property) and my solicitor's asked if I'd like him to keep a copy of the title deeds etc for free.

What's normal? I presume the mortgage company has the originals, so is there any reason I wouldn't want the solicitor to keep a copy too?

[Dogwatch]

Thought the data was all held by the Land Registry these days so paper deeds were obsolete. Probably safer with the solicitor than kicking around the house waiting to be accidently binned when you have a clearout.

[Tommy Winchester]

If the Title was unregistered before the purchase, you purchasing the property will have triggered '1st registration' (entry onto the Land Registry system).

The 'pre-reg' documents are now worthless - assuming the 1st reg was done correctly.

[lazy_b]

When I paid off my mortgage, I took up my building society's (no names, but it's nation wide) offer to keep the deeds in safe keeping for a nominal £1 interest-free mortgage.

[rudecherub]

it does depend on the property, if it's an older house, with hundreds of years of history, the deeds themselves can have intrinsic value, and or shed light on the history of the home.

[Steve_W]

rudecherub said:

it does depend on the property, if it's an older house, with hundreds of years of history, the deeds themselves can have intrinsic value, and or shed light on the history of the home.

Spot on. Our solicitor obviously had a clear out when they moved offices and forwarded us a whole host of paperwork for our place which included the old deeds, plans, etc. Our house was part of a Georgian rectory that was built by the estate for one of the sons who was the local vicar as well as the landowner & local employer. We had all sorts of interesting stuff about the estate, the subsequent divison of the property, old architect's drawings for how the place could be divided, original layout, and so on.

One particular little piece of paper made me very happy. The house used to have a semi-circular drive round it; my neighbour had made noises a few times about having a right of access acros our property (where the old drive used to run). Him or subsequent neighbours trying to enforce this would mean demolition of our kitchen, removal of hedges, lawns, etc. etc. In amongst the papers was one that showed that the right of access had been fully revoked back in the late 1940s when a builder bought the place to split up.

That piece of paper is kept very secure!

[MJG280]

The Land Registry tell you that with registration you don't need the old 'Deeds' You do! Don't throw anything out as the Land Certificate doesn't tell the whole story. I've been a surveyor to long and found all sorts of useful bits of information that have saved my employers and money over the years.

I know that the statutory declaration I did 12 years ago will one day b***er the adjoining owner/prat of one property when he comes to sort out his ownership. That won't make it into a Land Certificate.

[Spitfire2]

lazy_b said:

When I paid off my mortgage, I took up my building society's (no names, but it's nation wide) offer to keep the deeds in safe keeping for a nominal £1 interest-free mortgage.

Conversely when I transferred my mortgage to the same building society they posted me my deeds a few weeks later with a note saying they don't bother to hold them anymore and that I should look after them. This was in around 2007

[CIS121]

Thansk folks - it's only a 1930 house with on subsequet garden split so nothing exciting, but sounds like it'llbe useful for the solicitor to keep what he has.

[Paul Dishman]

lazy_b said:

When I paid off my mortgage, I took up my building society's (no names, but it's nation wide) offer to keep the deeds in safe keeping for a nominal £1 interest-free mortgage.

We did that and they left a charge on the deeds years after we'd paid the mortgage back, "in case we want to borrow some more money". I made them take it off and send me the deeds which I kept in a drawer until we sold the house.

[M-J-B]

Paul Dishman said:

lazy_b said:

When I paid off my mortgage, I took up my building society's (no names, but it's nation wide) offer to keep the deeds in safe keeping for a nominal £1 interest-free mortgage.

We did that and they left a charge on the deeds years after we'd paid the mortgage back, "in case we want to borrow some more money". I made them take it off and send me the deeds which I kept in a drawer until we sold the house.

If you were to lose the deeds, I assume it would be fairly easy to simply get copies and prove you owned it outright?

[Paul Dishman]

M-J-B said:

Paul Dishman said:

lazy_b said:

When I paid off my mortgage, I took up my building society's (no names, but it's nation wide) offer to keep the deeds in safe keeping for a nominal £1 interest-free mortgage.

We did that and they left a charge on the deeds years after we'd paid the mortgage back, "in case we want to borrow some more money". I made them take it off and send me the deeds which I kept in a drawer until we sold the house.

If you were to lose the deeds, I assume it would be fairly easy to simply get copies and prove you owned it outright?

You just contact the Land Registry, all deeds are held online now

[M-J-B]

Paul Dishman said:

M-J-B said:

Paul Dishman said:

lazy_b said:

When I paid off my mortgage, I took up my building society's (no names, but it's nation wide) offer to keep the deeds in safe keeping for a nominal £1 interest-free mortgage.

We did that and they left a charge on the deeds years after we'd paid the mortgage back, "in case we want to borrow some more money". I made them take it off and send me the deeds which I kept in a drawer until we sold the house.

If you were to lose the deeds, I assume it would be fairly easy to simply get copies and prove you owned it outright?

You just contact the Land Registry, all deeds are held online now

Thanks