Execution of deeds by corporate bodies
Practice Guide 8 has been updated to make it clearer what wording is acceptable where deeds are executed by corporate bodies.
From 20 September 2019, HM Land Registry will not accept ‘signed as a deed’ as an acceptable form of wording in prescribed form deeds executed by companies and limited liability partnerships. Where a disposal is in a prescribed form that must be executed as a deed (such as Form TR1 or CH1) we will require that the forms of execution set out in Schedule 9 to the Land Registration Rules 2003 are used. For example schedule 9 requires the following form:
Executed as a deed by (name of company) acting by [a director and its secretary] [two directors].
This change better reflects section 44 of the Companies Act 2006 and the provisions in the Land Registration Rules 2003, which require particular forms of execution to be used on prescribed forms of Deed.
We know this issue has caused some confusion for customers recently. We hope this now provides clarity and we apologise for any ambiguity and inconvenience this caused previously.
To help you prepare for the change, we are giving customers 3-months’ notice to adopt the wording set out in Schedule 9, in respect of prescribed deeds. Within this period, we will not raise a request for information when ‘Signed as a deed’ is used in the execution of prescribed deeds by corporate bodies. The notice period will end on Friday 20 September 2019.
The Land Registration Rules 2003 do not prescribe forms of execution where a non‑prescribed form of deed is used. However, wherever possible, we ask that you adopt the wording set out in Schedule 9 of the Land Registration Rules 2003. We believe doing so will help avoid requests for information and improve consistency.
Read Practice Guide 8.
Webinar
If you would like help on this, you can watch a 14-minute recorded webinar. This gives examples of correct and incorrect execution by corporate bodies. Alternatively, a 31-minute recorded webinar gives more information about execution requirements generally.
Find out more information about the whole range of our live and recorded webinars.