As of 30th August 2016, Land Registry will be changing the way they manage post labelled “Private & Confidential”.
Postal correspondence relating to applications that feature the labels “Private”, “Confidential” or “Private & confidential” will either be returned to the sender or be put through an inspection process. This may therefore greatly affect the priority of any application and it will not be deemed as received under rule 15 of the Land Registry Registration Rules 2003.
The policies of Land Registry relating to “Private & confidential” post state that:
- under sections 66 and 67 of the Land Registration Act 2002, any person may inspect and make copies of, or apply for an official copy of, any document referred to in the register or otherwise kept by the registrar which relates to an application to him
- other correspondence not relating to applications may be subject to access requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
- in the interest of natural justice, and pursuant to section 73(5) of the Land Registration Act 2002, Land Registry is obliged to share documents, including correspondence, when there is a dispute.
The amended Direction under section 100(4) of the Land Registry Act 2002 features details of these new procedures and will come into effect on 30th August. This will replace a previous version from 12th April 2016.
