Background
We have a considerable number of deeds held by Ewart Price occupying 7 substantial fire proof document safes.
We are now auditing all of these deeds.
Items that have been or will be destroyed
All freehold registered titles (land certificates and charge certificates) have been destroyed. The reason for this is that all this information is available online at the Land Registry. All previous searches and other documents which are out of date have also been destroyed, as they now have no legal validity or relevance.
Documents that we have retained
Any lease that has not expired will be retained, as well as Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Declarations of Trust. Any titles that are unregistered will also be retained.
The rationale behind all of this is that if the title is freehold and registered, there is no merit in retaining unnecessary Land Registry documents which have been abolished anyway. All the information can be very easily obtained from the Land Registry. Any other planning permissions or building regulation consents are also a matter of public record and can be obtained from the Local Authority concerned.