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Execution of deeds by corporate bodies
We previously informed customers that from 20 September 2019 HM Land Registry would not accept ‘signed as a deed’ as an acceptable form of wording in prescribed form deeds executed by companies and limited liability partnerships and would require that the forms of execution set out in Schedule 9 to the Land Registration Rules 2003 are used.
We considered that this better reflected section 44 of the Companies Act 2006 and the provisions in the Land Registration Rules 2003, which require particular forms of execution to be used on prescribed forms of deed. That remains our view.
However, we continue to receive a very large number of applications where a deed is executed by a company using wording that refers to 'signed as a deed', rather than 'executed as a deed'.
The courts do not appear to have considered using such wording is invalid (see Williams and others v Redcard Ltd and others [2011] 4 All ER 444) and we are determined to avoid raising requisitions other than where this is necessary.
Given this, we will not raise a requisition when 'signed as a deed' is used in the execution of a prescribed deed by a corporate body, although adopting the wording set out in Schedule 9 of the Land Registration Rules 2003 will avoid confusion and bring greater consistency.
This will apply both to applications received from now on and those currently pending at HM Land Registry.
Charities Act 2011 (important changes)
The Charities Act 2022 amends many of the provisions of the Charities Act 2011. The amendments to these provisions are being implemented in different phases, the most recent of these coming into force on 7 March 2024.
In addition, The Charities Act 2022 (Commencement No. 3, Consequential, Saving and Transitory Provisions) Regulations 2024 has made amendments to rules 176 and 180 of, as well as Schedule 4 to, the Land Registration Rules 2003. These also came into force on 7 March 2024.
A key result of these changes is that the statements required in dispositions of land and in mortgages, as well as the standard Form E restriction, have changed.
It is important to ensure dispositions contain the forms of statements that were required on the date the deed was made.
Practice guides 14 and 14a were updated on 7 March 2024 to cover the amendments relevant to HM Land Registry matters and to include specific guidance for:
- dispositions made before 7 March 2024;
- dispositions made on or after 7 March 2024; and
- dispositions made on or after 7 March 2024, but made pursuant to a contract for the sale, lease or other disposition entered into before 7 March 2024.
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