A new Land Registry fee order is in force. The Land Registration Fee Order 2009 (SI 2009/845) increases Land Registry fees across the board for registration and information services.
Key points to note include:
Scale fees. Scale 1 and scale 2 fees increase by between 25 and 30% (or, in one case, 40%) with a reduction on the new fee of up to 25% for voluntary first registrations. The Land Registry states that this is the first time that there have been increases in scale and fixed fees for substantive registration applications since 1993.
Notices and restrictions. The fee for registering a standard form restriction or an agreed or unilateral notice which does not accompany a scale fee application for registration rises from £40 to £50. The cost of registering a non-standard form of restriction rises from £80 to £100.
Official copies. The cost of requisitioning official copies of a registered title rises from £6 to £8 per title, and from £6 to £8 per title plan. Copy document fees rise from £10 to £12, and fees for copies of registered leases from £20 to £24. These fees are for hard copies. There is a 50% reduced fee where these applications are made from a remote terminal. Official search fees rise by 33%.
Index map searches. This service used to be free where not more than 10 titles are disclosed by the search. It used to cost £4 per title in excess of 10. From July 6, where no, or not more than five registered titles are disclosed, a fee of £5 is payable. Where more than five registered titles are disclosed, the fee is £5 for the first 5, and £3 for every ten titles, or up to ten titles, thereafter.
Large scale applications. The maximum fee for large scale applications is increased from £40,000 to £52,000, but it only applies to large scale applications for first registration. There is no maximum fee for large scale applications to register transfers of registered titles. If the application relates to more than 500 land units, the fee is £6,000 plus £6 for each land unit in excess of 500.
The Land Registry press notice is at http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/info/noticeboard/item/?article_id=19960