Guidance

Historical rights that could affect your property

Registrations and notices about mines and minerals, chancel repairs and manorial rights.

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Details

Before 13 October 2003, when the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force, there were some matters that could affect your property such as manorial rights and chancel repairs. These rights did not have to be recorded in the Land Register, so it was difficult to know if a property was affected by them.

Owners of these rights could have a duty or responsibility to protect them, as the 2002 Act says some of these rights might be lost on a future sale if they aren’t included in the Land Register.

Whether or not you could be affected by these rights depends on the history of the land or the area you live in. For example, it was common for large landowners to retain ownership of the mines and minerals when they sold the land. These rights could have always existed whether you were aware of them or not. In some cases, applications to register rights won’t be new rights, they will be applying to protect existing rights.

Published 8 September 2014