The following is to address the distinction between Land Registry Ownership Documents and Property Deeds, many people confuse them. You can find out the contents of each and the correct searches to use to obtain copies of them.
Property Deeds, House Deeds and Conveyancing Deeds are the documents that are created by solicitors or conveyancers when dealing with a property purchase or sale. They contain the terms of the transactions.
Deeds #
Deeds comprise a variety of documents that have been duly signed and executed as a formal and binding legal contract. There are a wide variety of deed types because each have a different purpose.
Some of the documents are hand written and some are long. Not all of the Deed types are found in every property transaction, but they are created whenever there is a purpose for them, an example would be where restrictive covenants need to be created that will bind the new and subsequent owners.
The primary Deeds are those that actually transfer ownership of the property from one person to another. They are referred to as Transfer Deeds.
Many Deeds contain a lot of important information and the Land Registry scan copies and retain them digitally, noting the Register that a copy has been made.
Ownership Documents #
When a property is purchased it must be registered. The Land Registry create a Title Register and Title Plan, using the Deeds supplied to them on an application for First Registration. These two documents become the Title Documents and provide official evidence of ownership. They only contain details necessary to identify the ownership title owned, omitting the mass of information contained in the Deeds that is not so relevant.
