Your Ref : None
Our Ref : Baldwin-16/08/2009
Land Registry
Head Office
32 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London
WC2A 3PH
Tel 020 7917 8888
Fax 020 7955 0110
DX No 1098
London/Chancery Lane WC2
www.landregistry.gov.uk / Dear Ms. Baldwin
Thank you for your e-mail dated the 16 August 2009, which has been referred to me. I am currently overseeing requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).
I note that you have asked for the details of all unregistered land In the United Kingdom. Please note that Land Registry’s business is to register titles to land in England and Wales and to record dealings with registered land once it is registered and not in relation to other parts of the United Kingdom. Therefore we do not deal with land in the whole of the United Kingdom. As we are responsible for maintaining the register to registered land, we do not hold details of the unregistered land, in England and Wales. However, we are able to confirm that around 30% of the land in England and Wales remains unregistered.
Under section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to requests for information if that information is already reasonably accessible by other means.
If your enquiry is in respect of specific land then you may be able to ascertain whether it is registered or not by carrying out a Search of the Index Map. I refer you to Practice Guide 10 which provides guidance. This can be downloaded from our main Land Registry Website http://www.landregistry.gov.uk. This information is available under the Land Registration Act 2002 and Rules 2003 and therefore reasonably accessible by other means. This would therefore not be a Freedom of information request under the Act. I would also refer you to Land Registry’s Advisory Policy which is limited in providing factual information and procedural advice. We do not provide legal advice.
You also asked us if we can confirm or disprove that any such land may be claimed and lived upon in a peaceful manner. I do not consider this to be a matter which I can comment on. However if your enquiry is in relation to adverse possession, I refer you to Practice Guide 4 (Adverse Possession of Registered Land under the new provisions of the Land Registration Act 2002) and Practice Guide 5 (Adverse Possession of Unregistered land and transitional provisions for registered land Registration Act 2002). This is information readily available under our Act and Rules.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.
If you are dissatisfied with this response to your request, you may seek an internal review by writing to:
Mike Westcott-Rudd
Head of Corporate Legal Services
Land Registry Head office
Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London
WC2A 3PH
Email:
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by Land Registry. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Corporate Legal Services
Tel 0207 166 4053
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