There is an excellent article in the Times yesterday (you can read the article by clicking on the Times Online). For all of those who are well-versed in the arguments raised in 2002/2003 against the unnecessary abolition of land certificates, it tells us nothing new, but is still worth reading so that one can nod wisely and concur. Land certificates were abolished, in part, to facilitate electronic conveyancing – which, of course, has not arrived. Although paper land and charge certificates were not an absolute prevention against fraud, they served as a useful check. In 2009, one would have thought a land certificate might have moved on a little – perhaps embracing something equivalent to chip and pin technology – so that if you wanted to sell your house, you would produce your chip and pin number. If you’ve lost it, then convince the Land Registry that you are who you say you are, and you can have another. Simple, one would have thought….
Property PSL