North West

Land Registry staff will be joining exhibitors at The Cumberland Show, in Rickerby Park, Carlisle on 19 July.

Farmers and landowners will be able to visit the marquee to find out how the voluntary land registration scheme can offer them more certainty and security about what they own.

The Cumbria initiative is part of a drive by Land Registry - the government department responsible for registering land ownership in England and Wales - to help landowners identify and register what they own.

Around 35 per cent of England and Wales remains unregistered. In Cumbria just over 50 per cent of land has now been registered - more than 365,000 hectares in total. Each hectare is the equivalent size of an average football pitch.

Harry Charlton, Register Development Manager for Cumbria, said:

"We're delighted so many farmers and landowners have recognised the value of registration and we welcome inquiries from as many landowners as possible.

"Many farmers from across the region and beyond will the attending The Cumberland Show, which is one of the key agricultural events of the year in the region. It will be an ideal opportunity for them to talk to us about the benefits of land registration.

"We have a straightforward and cost-effective system for checking and registering who owns what and we're currently offering a 25 per cent discount on the costs for those who voluntarily register their land."

State-backed registration gives landowners greater security of title, providing them with better protection against claims of adverse possession. Landowners also know the administration of their land holding is in good order with key information in one place and easy to access. To find out more about the voluntary registration scheme visit http://www.landregistry.gov.uk; call 0800 432 0432 or email registerland@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Voluntary land registration allows landowners to be in charge of their assets, to manage them more effectively now and in the long term, to consolidate complex legal information or historic data about their land and to protect their land against encroachment.

2. The national register development team is based in Nottingham. A regional register development manager is available in order to make the process of registering land as straightforward as possible.

3. With the world's largest property database of over 21 million titles, Land Registry underpins the economy by safeguarding ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property.

4. As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been an open document since 1990.

5. For further information about Land Registry visit http://www.landregistry.gov.uk Contacts

Issued on behalf of Land Registry by COI News and PR.

Regional news releases issued by COI News and PR can be viewed at http://nds.coi.gov.uk/

Land Registry
Head Office
Lincoln's Inn Fields
London WC2A 3PH
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk

Client ref NW/005/2008

COI ref 162954P