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Practice Guide 58 – Land Registry’s Welsh Language Scheme – register format

Updated: December 2012

Update

This edition of the guide replaces the July 2008 edition. The contact details in section 9 have been amended.

Scope of this guide

This guide gives information about the register and what you can expect to see when we issue it in bilingual format. The guide is aimed at conveyancers and other legal advisers and also members of the public and you should interpret references to ‘you’ accordingly. Land Registry staff will also refer to it.

1 Introduction

Land Registry has a Welsh Language Scheme that was prepared under s.21(3), Welsh Language Act 1993 and received the full endorsement of the Welsh Language Board in March 1998. The scheme provides that in the conduct of our public business in Wales, we will treat the English and Welsh languages on a basis of equality. The changes outlined in section 2 What are the changes and when did they take effect? derive from this principle.

2 What are the changes and when did they take effect?

The changes that we made to comply with the Welsh Language Scheme took effect on 1 October 2001 and were as follows.

We now produce the register template in a bilingual format. The headings and standard information (for example, ‘Property Register’ or ‘Title Absolute’) on all registers of titles in Wales appear in Welsh and English.
Individual register entries now appear in the language (English or Welsh) of the source document on which they are based. So, where Welsh is the language of the source documents, the entries are in Welsh; where English is the language of the source documents, the entries are in English. Where there is no document, the register entry reflects the language choice of the applicant whose application gave rise to that entry. For more information, see section 4 What about entries that don’t arise from a deed?

3 Will every entry be bilingual?

No, only the register template will be bilingual. The language of the source documents will determine the language of the register entries.

4 What about entries that don’t arise from a deed?

Where there is no document, for example, where an entry is of a general nature or relates exclusively to the status of the title plan, the language of that entry will reflect the language choice of the applicant either in the current application or, if the current application is generated by Land Registry itself, on the basis of the language choice of the current registered proprietor.

5 Will the property description be bilingual?

No. The property description (set out in the property register) will be the official address stored in our computerised property description database based on the Post Office address files. The address for service in the proprietorship register, which is personal to the individual proprietor, can be in Welsh either in accordance with the language choice of the applicant or upon request. Please note, however, that this applies to properties in Wales only. See Practice Guide 55 – Address for service for more general information, particularly as to the effect of the Land Registration Rules 2003.

6 What about applications based on Welsh documents lodged before 1 October 2001?

From 1 October 2001, Land Registry, Wales Office has printed all registers on the bilingual register template regardless of when the register itself was created. Entries arising from Welsh documents lodged prior to 1 October 2001 were translated into English for entry on the register. We do not intend to revise those entries.

7 My property is in England. Can I have my register in Welsh?

No. The changes set out above affect only the registers of land in Wales. Therefore, it will not be possible for expatriate Welsh people living in England or for Welsh people who may own land in England to have the registers of their English land printed on a bilingual template. It will also not be possible to create entries in Welsh on those registers.

8 What about headings or keys on title plans?

There are no proposals at present to translate headings or keys on title plans.

9 Who do I contact if I need further information or assistance?

Please refer any queries relating to these changes to:

Eleri Sparnon Jones
Welsh Language Co-ordinator
Land Registry, Wales Office
Tŷ Cwm Tawe
Phoenix Way
Llansamlet
Swansea SA7 9FQ

(DX 82800 Swansea 2)

Telephone: 0300 006 9567

email: eleri.jones@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk

10 General comments

If you have any comments or suggestions about our guides, please send them to:

Central Operations Group
Land Registry
Trafalgar House
1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ

(DX 8888 Croydon 3)

You can obtain further copies of this and of all our guides free of charge from Customer Support (see Contact details) or you can download them from our website.

Land Registry advisory policy

We offer advice to our customers through our publications and Customer Support information and through the day-to-day handling of applications.

We provide factual information including official copies of registers, title plans and documents, searches and details of our forms and fees.

We provide procedural advice to explain how the land registration system works and how to make applications correctly. This includes:

advice in advance of an application, where this is requested
where an application is defective, advice as to the nature of the problem and what options, if any, are available to put it right
an approval service for estate layout plans and certain other land registration documents.

There are limits to the advice that we will provide. We will not provide legal advice.

This means that:

we will not approve the evidence to be produced in support of a registration application before we receive the application
apart from procedural advice, we will not advise on what action to take
we will not recommend a professional adviser but can explain how to find one.

We provide advice only about real cases, not about theoretical circumstances. We will not express a view on questions where the law is complex or unclear except where the question arises on a live registration application.

In providing this factual information and procedural advice we will:

be impartial
recognise that others may be affected by what we say
avoid any conflict of interest.

Contact details

For customer enquiries and to request this publication in an alternative format please contact Customer Support at customersupport@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk or telephone 0844 892 1111, or 0844 892 1122 for a Welsh-speaking service, from Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm. Calls cost 3p a minute on a BT standard tariff, in addition to the current set up/connection charge. Calls from other tariffs, service providers and mobile phones may cost more. We do not receive any revenue from these calls.

To obtain copies of this and all our other guides, free of charge:

view/download guides in English and Welsh at www.landregistry.gov.uk
contact Customer Support.

Information in this guide

The information in this publication is for the purpose of providing general guidance about Land Registry's procedures and policies. It is intended only as a guide and does not cover every situation that may arise. It also does not limit Land Registry's ability to use its discretion when appropriate to do so, within the land registration legislation.

Chief Land Registrar

Not to be reproduced without permission from The Forms Unit, Land Registry (under the delegated authority from the Controller of HMSO), Trafalgar House, 1 Bedford Park, Croydon CR0 2AQ