Limitations

1.    Are all legal rights in property capable of registration in your system? If not please state the legal rights or interests in land that must be investigated outside of the registration of title system i.e. those that could bind a bona fide purchaser for value without notice without registration?

Not all legal rights in property are capable of registration. An example of a legal right that might be capable of binding a bona fide purchaser for value without notice and without registration is a lease of less than twenty years’ duration.

2.    To whom does responsibility for investigation of such rights apply?

It is the responsibility of the purchaser’s solicitor to conduct a proper investigation of title as part of the due diligence process.

3.    What protection if any is available to parties who are bound by property rights that are not capable of being recorded on the title registration system? (For example “hidden rights” such as certain easements that may run with land without a legal requirement for registration).

Only interests in land which are registered in the Land Register are guaranteed by the Keeper’s warranty. However, depending on the nature of the right in question and the manner of its creation, the possibility of recourse to the Courts for protection of one’s rights exists should dispute arise.

4.    Are the boundaries conclusive in the registration of title system? If not, are they guaranteed by another state agency/government department/authority?

Upon acceptance for registration the keeper warrants the boundary of the title but does not warrant that alluvion (the increase in an area of land due to the deposit of sediment by a river) has not had an effect on a boundary. The keeper also has no no liability to pay compensation for any loss incurred if the inaccuracy is as a result of an error in the cadastral map and that the error was made in reasonable reliance upon the base map.

5.    How does an aggrieved party remedy any boundary error?

If RoS become aware of a manifest inaccuracy in a title sheet or in the cadastral map, the inaccuracy must be rectified if what is needed to do so is also manifest. A notification of inaccuracy form (available on the RoS website (here)) should be completed and submitted to the post registration enquiries team.