Piloting land registration

A land  registration pilot project has begun in the deaneries of Aston & Cuddesdon and Newbury in response to the Land Registration Act 2002, which requires that by 2012 every piece of land and property in England should be registered with the Land Registry in order to establish ownership.

The registration of all church-owned land and property is going to be a complex and expensive task.  In the Oxford diocese alone there are more than 600 parishes each with at least one item of the following: Churches and churchyards; detached burial grounds; parsonage Houses; glebe lands; glebe buildings; car parks; schools;  church halls; other trust properties; and church associated property such as Vicar and Churchwardens’ Trusts

Leases of seven years or more must be registered (preferably with the tenant’s name), and those of between three and seven years noted in the registration documentation.

The  diocese has already been registering some glebe and other properties, and is now beginning work on parochial registrations.  In the pilot deaneries we will work through each benefice systematically and hope to complete the registration of all land and property during 2007. 

I have been recruited to co-ordinate the project throughout the year, and I am working to find out as much as possible about the land and property holdings for each parish and trying to track down deeds or other proof of ownership.

The success of the project will help determine the best way of undertaking property registration across the diocese.

Pam Rolls is the Diocesan Land Registry Administrator