Land Charges Act 1972

The Land Charges Act 1972 (c. 61) is a UK act of Parliament that updates the system for registering charges on unregistered land in England and Wales. It repealed and updated parts of the Land Charges Act 1925 and other legislation affecting real property.

Background
In the early 20th century, a package of reforms were made to register land in England and Wales to make conveyancing cheaper and simpler, and free land to the market. The main legislation was the Land Registration Act 1925, the Law of Property Act 1925, the Trustee Act 1925, and the Settled Land Act 1925. However, much land was to remain unregistered. Instead, for land which was not yet registered, people could choose to explicitly register interests under the Land Charges Act 1925, and so secure better protection than the common law might provide against a bona fide purchaser without notice of any equitable interest to be protected.

A local land charge is a restriction or prohibition imposed on a particular piece of land, which is binding on current and future owners and occupiers of the land. The purpose of the charge is either to secure payment of a sum of money, or to limit the use of the land.

In 1972, the 1925 Land Charges Act was updated into the present scheme.