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Public Guide 20 – Evidence of identity – non-conveyancers

Updated: May 2013

Update

This edition of the guide replaces the January 2013 edition. Section 5.3.2 has been added to clarify our requirements where the person needing to have their identification verified resides overseas.

Scope of this guide

This guide is aimed at lay people and organisations who are not conveyancers and who lodge applications for registration direct with Land Registry. It provides guidance on when evidence of identity must be lodged in support of an application for registration.

1 Introduction

Land and buildings are usually the most valuable assets people own. They can be sold and mortgaged to raise money and can therefore be attractive targets for fraudsters. For information about action you can take to help prevent property fraud affecting you, please see Public Guide 17 – How to safeguard against property fraud.

Land Registry, professional conveyancers and mortgage lenders all have safeguards to minimise the risk of a fraud being successful and this includes checking the identity of clients and parties involved in transactions affecting property. Land Registry also needs to check the identity of parties involved in some types of property transactions where a conveyancer is not acting, to make sure that the application is not fraudulent. This guide explains when evidence of identity is required if an application is lodged by someone who is not a conveyancer and how it should be given.

1.1 Definitions

‘Confirmation of identity’. This is done by completing the relevant panels in application forms AP1, DS2 or FR1.

‘Evidence of identity’. Where any of the persons or parties named in the relevant panels of the application forms AP1, DS2 or FR1 are not legally represented, you must also provide evidence of identity using form ID1 or ID2 for each such person or party.

‘Legally represented’. By this we mean when you are represented by a ‘conveyancer’.

‘Conveyancer’ means a person authorised by law to provide conveyancing services referred to in the Legal Services Act 2007, or a person carrying out those activities in the course of their duties as a public officer. It also includes an individual or body who employs or has among their managers such an authorised person who will undertake or supervise those conveyancing activities, and includes solicitors and licensed conveyancers.

1.2 Fraud notice

If, when there is a requirement to confirm identity or provide evidence of identity, you dishonestly provide information or make a statement that you know is, or might be, untrue or misleading, and intend by doing so to make a gain for yourself or another person, or to cause loss or the risk of loss to another person, you may commit the offence of fraud under section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006, the maximum penalty for which is 10 years' imprisonment or an unlimited fine, or both.

2 When and for whom will Land Registry require confirmation of identity?

We require confirmation of identity for the types of transactions and for the persons shown in the following table. Please also see the exceptions mentioned below the table.

Table: Confirmation of identity requirements: applications sent to Land Registry by a person who is not a conveyancer
Application	Person for whom confirmation of identity is required
Transfer of land or transfer of a mortgage (whether or not for money, also includes transfers to appoint or remove a trustee and assents by personal representatives – see Exceptions below)	Transferor (seller) Transferee (buyer) Any attorney acting for the seller or buyer
Lease (whether or not for money)	Landlord Tenant Any attorney acting for the landlord or tenant
Surrender of a registered lease – application to close the leasehold title (includes surrenders by transfer and by operation of law)	Landlord Tenant Any attorney acting for the landlord or tenant
Mortgage (charge) – of registered land or of unregistered land on compulsory first registration	Lender (chargee) Borrower (chargor) Any attorney acting for the lender or borrower
Discharge of mortgage in paper form DS1 or DS3	Lender
Compulsory first registration (Public Guide 13 – Applications for first registration made by the owner in person explains when an application for first registration is compulsory)	Seller or landlord Buyer or tenant Any attorney acting for the above
Voluntary first registration but only where the deeds have been lost and the applicant is not a conveyancer or a well-known corporate body who lost them themselves – see the Note below	Applicant for first registration as proprietor of the land Any attorney for the applicant
Change of name by deed poll, statutory declaration or statement of truth	Person changing their name
Change of address	See Public Guide 2 – Keeping your address for service up to date for details of our requirements

We do not routinely require confirmation of identity in other situations but we may ask for this for specific applications. However, in all cases we reserve the right to carry out identity checks and additional verification procedures with respect to identity.

We may also add to the above list or remove the requirement for confirmation of identity for certain types of applications at short notice. Information about any changes will always be available on our website.

Please note that an application for registration will be rejected if confirmation of identity is not provided when this is required, or if the wrong forms are used.

Note: Voluntary first registration is where an application is made voluntarily for the registration of an owner’s title to land where this is presently unregistered and there has not been an event under the Land Registration Act 2002 which makes registration compulsory. These events include a transfer (whether for money, by gift or otherwise not on sale) and a mortgage.

Exceptions

There are some exceptions, which are set out in full in Practice Guide 67 – Evidence of identity – conveyancers. The main ones affecting applications sent by non-conveyancers where we do not need confirmation of identity for some or all parties are:

a lease or a charge which is merely being noted in the register
voluntary applications for first registration unless the title deeds have been lost or destroyed.

We also do not require confirmation of identity for certain parties who already have to send us evidence of their appointment. This includes personal representatives (that is executors or administrators of a deceased person’s estate), trustees in bankruptcy, liquidators and Mental Health Act deputies (a full list is in Practice Guide 67 – Evidence of identity – conveyancers). This exemption applies both when they are parties to a deed, and when they are also sending the affected application to us themselves.

Please note though that confirmation of identity is still required for the beneficiary under an assent (except in the case where someone is assenting the property to themselves) or the transferee under a transfer, and also for any person lodging the application (unless they are the executor, trustee in bankruptcy etc as referred to in the above paragraph). This applies both in situations where the land is already registered and also where an application is being made for compulsory first registration. In addition to the above we also do not require confirmation of identity where the true value of the land involved in the disposal does not exceed £6,000. In this situation, please see section 7 Properties where the true value does not exceed £6,000 for our requirements.

3 What do I have to do?

If you are sending or bringing an application to us, please make sure you have all the right documents and evidence required for your type of application and everything has been completed correctly.

You will then need to complete the application form required for your type of application and have the identity of any unrepresented person verified, where this is necessary.

Firstly, you must provide confirmation of identity for any of the parties or persons mentioned in the above table by completing the relevant panels in application form AP1, DS2 or FR1.

Please remember that confirmation is also needed in most cases for an attorney who has signed a deed on behalf of one of the parties, and for the person who sends the application to us, if that person is not a conveyancer.

Secondly, if any of the parties mentioned in the table are not legally represented, you will also need to provide evidence of identity. See section 5 Evidence of identity for the action to take.

Thirdly, if the application is being sent to Land Registry by someone who is not one of the parties or persons mentioned in the table, you will need to provide evidence of their identity.

4 Confirmation of identity panels on applications by non-conveyancers

You must use form AP1, FR1 or DS2 as appropriate to your application and complete the relevant panels as indicated in the form. You must take care to complete all of the appropriate panels on the form. The following only deals with the panels relating to confirmation of identity. If you are sending an application for which confirmation of identity is not required you do not have to complete all of these panels.

4.1 Form AP1

Panel 12 – Confirmation of identity

You must complete the second option and then go to panel 14.

Form AP1 - example 1

Panel 14 – Where the application is sent to Land Registry by someone who is not a conveyancer

(1) Details of conveyancer acting

If your application is one of those mentioned in the first column in the table in section 2 above, you must then complete the first part of panel 14 with the full names of the parties or persons referred to in the table you are sending to us, and state the details of any conveyancer who acted for them. If any of the parties are not legally represented write ‘None’ in the second column.

The following is an example of how to complete this panel.

Form AP1 - example 2

The second part of this panel only needs to be completed in cases where a discharge or release of a mortgage in paper form DS1 or DS3 is being lodged with the application. Completion is similar to the first part above.

Form AP1 - example 3

(2) Evidence of identity

You must always complete this section. For information about this, please also see section 5 Evidence of identity.

You only need to cross the first box (‘for each applicant named in panel 6 is enclosed’) if the applicant shown in panel 6 of your form is different to any of the persons named in panel 14.

You must cross the second box (‘for each unrepresented transferor, etc’) if you have written ‘None’ in the second column in any of the above panels.

In the above example we need evidence of identity of Hannah Leonard because she is not legally represented. If someone other than her sends the application to us, we will also need evidence of identity for them if they are not a conveyancer.

Form AP1 - example 4

Panel 15 – Signature

You must always complete this panel, even if you are not completing panel 14. Every person listed in panel 6 as applicant must sign. It is not sufficient for the person named in panel 7 (if different) to sign.

Form AP1 - example 5

4.2 Form FR1

See section 2 When and for whom will Land Registry require confirmation of identity? for when confirmation of identity is required for first registration applications.

Panels 14, 16 and 17

Completion is essentially the same as in section 4.1 Form AP1. There is no separate discharge panel because there will be no registered charge to discharge.

You do not have to complete panels 14 and 16 if you are applying for voluntary first registration.

You must always complete panel 17, even if you are not completing panel 14. Every person listed in panel 6 as applicant must sign.

4.3 Form DS2

Panel 8 – Confirmation of Identity

You must complete the second option.

Panel 10 – Where the application is sent to Land Registry by someone who is not a conveyancer

Completion is essentially the same as in section 4.1 Form AP1, with the exception that there is only a lender's panel to complete. However, if the DS1 or DS3 form has been signed by an attorney for the lender (or by other authorised signatory), we do not require confirmation of identity for the attorney/agent.

Panel 11 – Signature

You must always complete this panel.

5 Evidence of identity

You must provide evidence of identity for any party (and the person lodging the application if different) who is not legally represented.

The evidence must be in form ID1 or ID2 shown in section 10 Example of forms ID1 and ID2 and must be completed by each individual person who is a party to the above transactions who is not legally represented. This requirement applies to both private individuals and corporate bodies such as companies.

Both forms can be downloaded free of charge from our website or by telephoning Customer Support (see Contact details).

Both parts of form ID1 or ID2 lodged in support of an application must be dated and signed no more than three months before the time of lodgement.

Completed forms ID1 and ID2 are not open to public inspection and normally a person may not apply for an official copy of them. There are special provisions in the Land Registration Rules 2003 to allow inspection by specific persons, in some situations connected with court proceedings, insolvency and tax liability investigations. We hope that you will understand why evidence of identity is needed. Although this requirement may appear to be a burden we believe it is essential to help combat identity theft and fraud. Our requirements are similar to the identity checks made by other organisations, including banks.

5.1 Completing the ID forms

Private individuals must complete form ID1, corporate bodies must complete form ID2.

Where a party to a transaction comprises more than one person, each one must complete a separate ID form and produce evidence of their identity.

The following examples help to illustrate when evidence of identity is required and for whom.

Neighbour A sells part of his back garden to Neighbour B. Neither use a conveyancer and both are private individuals. Neighbour B then lodges the application for registration.

We need separate forms ID1 from Neighbour A as the transferor and Neighbour B as the transferee.

C mortgages her property to D who applies to register the mortgage. Neither use a conveyancer and both are private individuals.

We need separate forms ID1 from C as borrower and D as lender.

E and F transfer their property by way of gift to G. H submits the application for registration on behalf of G. All are private individuals.

We will need separate forms ID1 for E and F as joint transferors, G as the transferee and H as the person lodging the application.

J, a company, discharges a mortgage and gives K, a private individual, a paper DS1. K lodges the discharge for registration.

We will need form ID2 for J and form ID1 for K.

L sells his house to M but appoints an attorney N to execute the transfer. M lodges the application for registration. L, M and N are all private individuals.

We will need separate forms ID1 for L, M and N.

5.2 Which parts of the form do I have to complete?

You must complete section A.

A conveyancer or one of our staff will complete section B of this form. See section 5.3 Verification of identity.

5.3 Verification of identity

You can have your identity verified by a conveyancer or at one of our customer information centres. You will need to take the identity evidence mentioned in section B3 of form ID1 or ID2 and a recent passport-size photograph with you (you will need 2 copies of the photograph if you are going to a conveyancer, because they will need a copy for their records). Your face must be clearly visible in the photograph. ID forms may be rejected if this is not the case. Land Registry does not charge a fee for this service, but a conveyancer may do so.

If you have your identity verified by a conveyancer and then lodge your application by post we may make additional checks to satisfy ourselves that everything is in order.

However to come within the definition of conveyancer in rule 217A of the Land Registration Rules 2003 an individual must be authorised under the Legal Services Act 2007 to provide conveyancing services; in effect they must have a practicing certificate.

If verification is given by a person who has made it clear on the ID form that they are retired or not practising as a solicitor, barrister etc, a requisition is likely to be raised for verification by a person who comes within the definition of conveyancer contained in rule 217A of the Land Registration Rules 2003.

5.3.1 Verification of identity at our customer information centres

If you are coming to Land Registry, please telephone customer support before your visit if you are unsure what evidence of identity you will need to produce and to make an appointment.

Our customer information centres are open between 8.30am and 6pm on Mondays to Fridays. You will always need to make an appointment giving us at least 24 hours' notice. Appointments may be made by completing the 'Appointment Request' on our website or by telephoning Customer Support (see Contact details).

You must submit your application at the same time as verification at the customer information centre. This means that everyone who completes an ID1 or ID2 for that application must attend at the same time, and that the application requiring ID verification must itself be in order. If this is not possible, the parties who cannot attend should consider going to a conveyancer to have their identity verified before the application is submitted. Because of our security measures we will not process applications to change the register while you wait at our customer information centres. We will accept your application, and will either post notification of completion to you or contact you to collect this when it is ready, if you request this.

Please remember that fresh evidence of identity will have to be produced for each separate application if these are lodged at different times or at different local offices.

5.3.2 Verification of identity of persons resident overseas

Where a person is resident overseas and it is not possible for their identity to be verified by a UK conveyancer, section B of the ID1 or ID2 should be completed and signed by a lawyer or notary public qualified to practice in the person’s country of residence. The form should be amended to include confirmation of the country in which the lawyer or notary public is qualified to practice, confirmation that they are so qualified to practice and the name and address of the body with which they are registered to practice.

Form ID1 or ID2 will always be required. The option in forms AP1, FR1 and DS2 that sufficient steps have been taken to verify someone’s identity cannot be used.

5.4 Identity requirements where two or more applications are being lodged at the same time

If you intend to lodge two or more applications at the same time, and at the same office, and the parties for those applications (who are not legally represented) are the same, you need provide only one set of identity evidence for each of those parties for all of the applications.

But if the parties in the applications (who are not legally represented) are different you will need identity evidence for each separate party.

5.5 Identity requirements where applications are being lodged at different Land Registry local offices

If you are lodging applications at different offices you will need to provide identity evidence for each application or batch of applications for each local office.

6 What if I can’t go to a customer information centre or to a conveyancer?

Land Registry is committed to ensuring accessibility for all of our customers. If you are not able to attend one of our customer information centres and cannot go to a conveyancer to have your identity verified, you should contact Customer Support to discuss whether alternative arrangements are possible.

7 Properties where the true value does not exceed £6,000

You do not have to confirm the identity of persons involved in transactions where the true value of the land which is the subject of the disposal does not exceed £6,000. In these cases you may instead lodge a certificate by someone qualified to give property valuations confirming the value of the land, for example an estate agent, a surveyor, a land and property valuer or auctioneer who holds a qualification from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors or some other person who is similarly qualified.

You may still supply evidence of identity if you prefer, and we also reserve the right to require evidence of identity in form ID1 or ID2, in any particular instance.

8 Facility letter arrangements

Land Registry has issued 'facility letters' for a limited number of private individuals who regularly deal with Land Registry. These exempt these individuals from our normal identity requirements. A copy of the facility letter must be enclosed with any application where confirmation of identity is usually required, in place of form ID1 or ID2.

A facility letter can only be used where the value of the property does not exceed £50,000.

If you wish to apply for such an arrangement please contact Customer Support (see Contact details).