Land Registry

Land Registry services from 27 March 2020

We will continue to operate as close to normal as possible in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to apologise to anyone who might be affected by a slower-than-usual service. Our committed staff are working under difficult circumstances to provide our services by alternative means.

Impact on our services

In February 2020 we began accepting applications for registration services by email to landapplications@gov.im in accordance with Practice Directive PD02/2020. 

• Applications will also be accepted if posted into our office at the Registries Building.
• We are prioritising the services that allow property transactions to continue as normal.
• We anticipate that some of our services will be affected by the current situation with some applications taking longer than usual.
• We anticipate the greatest disruption to new and voluntary applications and applications for possessory title.
• We anticipate moderate disruption to all other service.
• We aim to ensure new applications and applications for priority are recorded onto the register on the day of receipt.

Inspection Services

A number of search tools including tithe and asylum maps, the Woods Atlas and historic series maps may be found at www.gov.im/woodsatlas

Pre-1911 indices may be searched at www.gov.im/pre1911deeds and arrangements have been made to enable conveyancing professionals to obtain copies of these deeds while the Museum is closed.

Post-1911 deeds. Our scanned deeds and grants of probate may be searched and purchased via the Government online services page www.services.gov.im. Unscanned deeds may be ordered through that site and will be dispatched electronically. Our staff may be contacted at land@registry.gov.im for assistance in searching the Grantor and Grantee indices which are held on our site. All deeds registered after 1982 have been indexed and can be searched only. Deeds registered from 1992 may be purchased directly through the online service. All grants of probate from 1940 are indexed. Guidance on searching is available on “Deeds and Probate Registry” at www.services.gov.im

The Land Registry map is currently only viewable by our staff. On request to land@registry.gov.im staff will provide copy extracts of the title map and the base map. Office Copies may be applied for at the same account. There is no charge for these unofficial extract of the title map. Our usual fees apply to all other services.

Expedite an application

We apologise if your application is affected by this necessary prioritisation of work. If you feel that your application is urgent, you can ask us to expedite it by emailing land@registry.gov.im.  If we can approve your request, we will process your application sooner. 

Contacting the Land Registry 

We encourage all service users to email essential enquiries to: land@registry.gov.im. Please be aware you may not receive an immediate response. 

Office access and Registrar’s hearings 

Following Cabinet Office guidance and the practices adopted in the Courts and Tribunal Service all public access to our counters is currently suspended. All Registrar’s Hearings are suspended. 

Keeping you up to date 

Public access will be restored as circumstances allow. Further announcements will be made on this website until normal access can be restored.

The Land Registry

The Land Registry is based in the same office as the Deeds and Probate Registries which form part of the Registries Section of the Central Registry.

The Land Registry is situated on the first floor of the Registries Building on Deemsters Walk, just off Bucks Road, next to the Courts of Justice in Douglas.

Purpose

The Land Registry aims to create and maintain an accurate and up-to-date record of interests in land and property, including details of ownership.

The historic system of examining deeds recorded in the Deeds Registry under the Registration of Deeds Act 1961 in order to deduce the title or ownership of land is being replaced by a modern system requiring the registration of title to the land on a separate electronic title register created and maintained under the Land Registration Act 1982 (as amended) and the Land Registry Rules 2000 as amended by the Land Registry (Amendment) Rules 2002.

Land registration was phased in across the Isle of Man as successive parishes were designated as areas subject to compulsory registration:

• 1 May 2002: Andreas, Ballaugh, Bride and Jurby
• 1 May 2003: German, Lezayre, Maughold, Michael and Patrick
• 1 September 2005: The whole of the Island except for Braddan and Onchan
• 1 December 2009: Braddan and Onchan

Registration of title to a freehold or leasehold estate in land is compulsory on a conveyance on sale, the grant of a lease for more than 21 years or the assignment of a lease where there is more than 21 years left to run. Alternatively, title may be voluntarily registered at any time. All applications for first registration must include a certificate by an Advocate practising on the Island in the form included in Form 1 - Application for First Registration.

Once registered, the current details of a property will be found in the Land Registry. For records of unregistered property, please refer to the Deeds Registry.

Registration benefits

The benefits of land registration include:

• Registration of title gives finality and certainty by providing an up-to-date official record of land ownership
• Ease of accessibility to up-to-date official records of ownership and other registerable interests of land
• Proof of ownership can be readily and speedily obtained, unlike searches of unregistered land where you may need to know the name of the owner
• Registered titles are guaranteed because, subject to normal insurance principles, indemnity is paid should any person suffer loss through any error in, or omission from, the title register. No such guarantee exists for unregistered property
• Each title includes an extract from the survey map called a Filed Plan showing the extent of the land comprised in the registered title, although the boundaries are not conclusive unless a formal application has been made to do so. These plans are based on digital surveys of the Island. In unregistered conveyancing, there is no requirement for any deed to include a plan
• Dispositions of registered titles are effected by means of simple prescribed forms which are available to the public. In unregistered conveyancing, there are no prescribed forms

Online fee Calculator

Online fee calculator for Land Registration fees - from 1 September 2019