[Help] Title Deeds

[lawros left foot]

Bit of a boring question, but, my title deeds have been returned to me, because my ex-building society has decided that they will no longer have a deed retention service.
I’ve looked on the inter web and have found conflicting information about what to do next.

Do I retain them in my safe at home, or do they need to go to a solicitor/ bank for safekeeping? I’ve also read that you don’t need them anymore as everything is digital now.
If I do need to retain them with a bank/ solicitor any recommendations for a good service?

 

[Denis]

I’ve got mine in a Sainsbury’s bag in the wardrobe, actually I think they are all digital now.

 

[lawros left foot]

I’ve got mine in a Sainsbury’s bag in the wardrobe, actually I think they are all digital now.

I can’t do that, I haven’t got a Sainsbury’s bag.


Edit.
Mrs LLFhas just told me, we do have a Sainsbury’s bag, her Wedding dress is in it in the loft.

 

[the larks]

Keep them , but assuming your title is registered digitally with land registry then the days of the paper copies being held in a strong room are over as the digital registration proves ownership and will have the covenants etc listed.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

We were told they were all digital now?

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Bit of a boring question, but, my title deeds have been returned to me, because my ex-building society has decided that they will no longer have a deed retention service.
I’ve looked on the inter web and have found conflicting information about what to do next.

Do I retain them in my safe at home, or do they need to go to a solicitor/ bank for safekeeping? I’ve also read that you don’t need them anymore as everything is digital now.
If I do need to retain them with a bank/ solicitor any recommendations for a good service?

Sell them on eBay. That could make for an interesting test legal case.

 

[hoveboyslim]

As others have said, they are digital. When my father passed way we didn’t bother trying to trace them. We obtained a copy from the land registry.

 

[Official Old Man]

I wouldn't even know where mine are. I presume the bank store them whilst I had a mortgage, but that finished long ago and I don't have an account with that bank any more. Indeed, the bank is soon to become a Greggs. Puts a whole new slant on cooking the books

 

[kevo]

I can’t do that, I haven’t got a Sainsbury’s bag.

But surely you have a Tesco bag you can use?

 

[keaton]

I still have my old flats title deeds in my loft. I assume they transferred them digitally, but if I need some extra cash I could try

 

[WATFORD zero]

Mine are in the bottom left cupboard in the dining room dresser, together with a Sumo wrestling programme, a Kilimanjaro stone chess set and a few other 'valuables' from over 30+ years ago.

 

[kevo]

As others have said, they are digital. When my father passed way we didn’t bother trying to trace them. We obtained a copy from the land registry.

Yeah you don't need to keep them, a copy is retained by the Land Registry. If you want a hard copy, you can download them from there for £3.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Bit of a boring question, but, my title deeds have been returned to me, because my ex-building society has decided that they will no longer have a deed retention service.
I’ve looked on the inter web and have found conflicting information about what to do next.

Do I retain them in my safe at home, or do they need to go to a solicitor/ bank for safekeeping? I’ve also read that you don’t need them anymore as everything is digital now.
If I do need to retain them with a bank/ solicitor any recommendations for a good service?

They do not need to be lodged with a bank/solicitor.

 

[lawros left foot]

Thank you all for the advice, I’ll put them in my safe and forget about them.

 

[Bodian]

Thank you all for the advice, I’ll put them in my safe and forget about them.

Before you do though - check that what is on your Land Registry document is actually accurate. I have all our old deeds and conveyances since the house was first built in a tin box. About 10 years ago, we all in our Avenue decided to resurface the private road out the front. All the houses were sold off in one go in about 1920 - but all the Land Registry descriptions are slightly different in terms of what is recorded as our rights and responsibilities regarding the roads. This has basically come about through various transcription errors and interpretations over the years. So, we had 14 houses, and out of those 10 of us still had a copy of the original 1920 deeds/conveyances. They all had an identical clause - but out of the 10, only a few still had the exact same wording on the Land Registry documents. In our case, a whole line had been missed out (two lines both ended in the same word, and the error crept in when typing up the 1960 conveyance and has remained ever since).

Now - the Land Registry, so far as I understand, don't always keep copies of every original deed/conveyance - just the recent ones (the one they used to do the registration). So, if we'd all thrown them away, as they tell us - we would not have a recorded right to access our house.

 

[alanfp]

In our case, a whole line had been missed out (two lines both ended in the same word, and the error crept in when typing up the 1960 conveyance and has remained ever since).

Now - the Land Registry, so far as I understand, don't always keep copies of every original deed/conveyance

This my understanding too. My friend worked for Land Reg and he had to type out / transcribe new records from old documents which were then disposed of.

What you get for £3 (which I think is now£7) doesn't include things like restrictive covenants. It typically states "There are covenants relevant to this property" or something like that. I think the phrase used may be as vague as "records held on file" but I'm not sure.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Bury it in your property somewhere so only you will know where it is.

 

[Carshalton Seagull]

Before you do though - check that what is on your Land Registry document is actually accurate. I have all our old deeds and conveyances since the house was first built in a tin box. About 10 years ago, we all in our Avenue decided to resurface the private road out the front. All the houses were sold off in one go in about 1920 - but all the Land Registry descriptions are slightly different in terms of what is recorded as our rights and responsibilities regarding the roads. This has basically come about through various transcription errors and interpretations over the years. So, we had 14 houses, and out of those 10 of us still had a copy of the original 1920 deeds/conveyances. They all had an identical clause - but out of the 10, only a few still had the exact same wording on the Land Registry documents. In our case, a whole line had been missed out (two lines both ended in the same word, and the error crept in when typing up the 1960 conveyance and has remained ever since).

Now - the Land Registry, so far as I understand, don't always keep copies of every original deed/conveyance - just the recent ones (the one they used to do the registration). So, if we'd all thrown them away, as they tell us - we would not have a recorded right to access our house.

Was it a small house or a big box?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

We finished paying off our mortgage a couple fo years ago, and have kept meaning tpo get round to thinking about the deeds. I was kind of expecting the mortgage lender (Santander) to get in touch with us and post them to us, but that never happened.

Is this something I'm supposed to follow up?

 

[Goldstone1976]

I can’t do that, I haven’t got a Sainsbury’s bag.


Edit.
Mrs LLFhas just told me, we do have a Sainsbury’s bag, her Wedding dress is in it in the loft.

Perfect.

Put the deeds in with the wedding dress. That way, should you divorce she’ll know where to find them when the house becomes hers.

What?