Brief Background
The Land Charges Act 1972 is a piece of legislation that enhances the system for creating and registering charges over unregistered land across England and Wales. If an interest in the land is not registered effectively, the land could be acquired by a purchaser, free of any unprotected interest.
Why was it introduced?
The Land Charges Act 1972 was introduced to update sections of the previous act, the Land Charges Act 1925. 1925 was an important year in the context of property law as a number of reforms were rolled out to ensure that the conveyancing process could be completed for less money and at a faster pace. This included legislation such as the Law of Property Act 1925 and the Land Registration Act 1925.
What was the aim of the Act?
Before the Land Charges Act 1925 was introduced, there were two rules used to understand whether an individual had a right to land over another individual. The first was by looking at the legal rights, which was usually found by looking at the documentation relevant to the land. The second was to consider the equitable rights to the land, which involved the doctrine of notice. This had led to an undesirable situation for both parties as the binding of the purchaser would be considered on purely whether she/he had knowledge of the equitable interest. Therefore, the Land Charges Act 1925, which is now the Land Charges Act 1972, was introduced to remedy such issues.
What main changes did it make to the law?
The Land Charges Act 1972 deals almost exclusively with the issue of equitable interests that it sought to remedy. It must be noted that the legislation only applies to unregistered land. It is also important to note that unregistered land is land that does not qualify under the Land Registration Act 1925 and 2002 as this is a very different system. The Land Charges Act 1972 dealt with the specific issue regarding equitable interests by requiring that an individual now enters such interests onto a register. The register can be inspected by prospective buyers who wish to understand what rights are held over the land and by whom. However, if the purchaser knew of these rights before he/she purchased the land then they would be bound by them. It is important to note that the Land Charges Act 1972 relies on a name based system and therefore searches can be carried out incorrectly when individuals use their middle or nicknames this can create a great amount of confusion.
Key Sections
The Land Charges Act 1972, section 1 emphasises the registers that the Land Charges Department is required to keep. These are; a register of land charges, a register of pending actions, a register of writs and orders affecting the land and a register of annuities. This is important as it highlights the primary task of the Land Charges Department.
The Land Charges Act 1972, section 2 lays out the different classes of land charge that are available. These are as follows:
- Class A – a right that arises out of an Act of Parliament that allows an estate owner to apply to receive money for the right.
- Class B – a right to automatically receive money from the estate owner, with no application, as a result of an Act of Parliament.
- Class C (i) – A puisne mortgage – this often relates to a second mortgage on a property.
- Class C (ii) – a charge that is acquired by a tenant for life
- Class C (iii) – a general equitable charge that is not included in any other class of land charge.
- Class C (iv) – estate contracts – this class of charge includes the contract for the transfer of estate and purchase options
- Class D (i) – a charge placed by Inland Revenue
- Class D (ii) – Restrictive covenants but only those created after the original Act was introduced (1st January 1925)
- Class D (iii) – Equitable easements entered after or on 1st January 1926.
- Class E – Annuities
- Class F – Right of occupation
The Land Charges Act 1972, section 3 requires that the land charges that are registered shall be done so in the name of the estate owner and that this name should be the same as the name used on the conveyance. This is important as where this is registered inaccurately, another interest in the land may take priority. See the case of Diligent Finance v Alleyne (1972) for more information on this point.
The Land Charges Act 1972, section 10 provides for the searches of the Land Charges Register. This can be done either personally or officially. An official search gives better protection and is considered as conclusive even if the Land Registry was erroneous during their search.
2026 update
The Land Charges Act 1972 remains in force and continues to regulate the registration of certain rights affecting unregistered land in England and Wales. The Act consolidated earlier legislation relating to land charges and established the modern system of registering equitable interests such as restrictive covenants, estate contracts and puisne mortgages.
A key principle of the Act is the “voidness rule” in section 4. If a registrable land charge is not properly registered in the land charges register, it will generally be void against a purchaser for valuable consideration, even if the purchaser had actual knowledge of the interest.
Since the introduction of the Land Registration Act 2002, most land in England and Wales is now registered. As a result, the Land Charges Act 1972 mainly applies to the remaining areas of unregistered land, while interests affecting registered land are instead protected through the land registration system maintained by HM Land Registry.
