Storing Deeds

paddywak | 16:01 Thu 16th Jun 2011 | Law

14 Answers

Last night in the pub the barmaid mentioned that her parents had paid off their mortgage and that the TSB was charging about £150 per year to store the deeds. This set off a discussion as to just how important the actual deeds to a property were, what with the Land Registry and was it really worth while paying to store the deeds as long as you were registered as the owner of the property. Everybody had their own opinion but nobody actually knew the legal position, so any advice would be welcome

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wolf63

I paid off my mortgage with Halifax and left a balance of about £130 outstanding. They retain my deeds for me.

I don't think that the deeds are as important as the used to be.

paddywak

Question Author

I paid off my mortgage back in '93 when I was made redundant from British Coal and the deeds are stored with the NatWest for a charge of £20 per year, but as I said none of us know just what the legal position is. Do you pay to have them stored or keep them at home and rely on the Land Registry?

maclarencat

The deeds are no longer needed to prove ownership . It is the entry at the land registry that does that so there is no need to pay the bank this amount for simply keeping the bits of paper at their bank. We have the deeds to our house which we keep in a metal box in the wardrobe simply because I think they are of historical interest but I wouldnt be paying anyone to do it for me. If they want to keep them why not invest in a small safe for at home . I am sure they could get one that is fireproof for the cost of 1 years storage at the bank.

cupid04

Our solicitor is looking after ours for free. Mind you we have put quite a bit of
business his way in recent years.

woofgang

Provided that the house ownership is on the Land Registry then the deeds are interesting documents but have no legal standing...being charged 150 a year for storage is a rip off. There might be other useful information in the deeds, eg any covenants limiting what can be done with the property..but if there is any difference between the deeds and the Land registry, without solid proof to the contrary then the Land Registry information will be deemed to be the correct version.
http://www.landreg.go...ocuments/bhist-lr.pdf

If the house has been sold since 1990 it will be on the land registry, other triggers for compulsory registration were added later.

237SJ

I wouldn`t be paying anyone to store deeds. My dad had his deeds with the solicitor and they lost them when they relocated their office. I would get one of those fire proof/flood proof boxes from Staples or somewhere and stick them in the loft.

paddywak

Question Author

thank for every-bodies input I think I'll have a look in Staples for a document box and save myself a few quid.