Where to store titles to house

[Deleted User]

I have found documents and titles etc going back to when the house was first built in 1936 in a fire box at my late mother's house.  Until sale the house will be empty.  I could leave the documents here,  take them to Germany (where I live), or perhaps I could take them to a bank for storage.  I don't know how important they are,  but I don't really want to leave them in the empty house.

I also have a completion of registration document from hm land registry which references the title and the property being registered solely in my mother's name after my father died.  I will be taking this will me.

Alter_ego

So long as the house is registered at the land registry paper documents are only of sentmental value.

[Deleted User]

OK so I can leave those in the fire box at the house. Thanks.

Alter_ego said:

So long as the house is registered at the land registry paper documents are only of sentmental value.

Marcon

[Deleted User] said:

I have found documents and titles etc going back to when the house was first built in 1936 in a fire box at my late mother's house.  Until sale the house will be empty.  I could leave the documents here,  take them to Germany (where I live), or perhaps I could take them to a bank for storage.  I don't know how important they are,  but I don't really want to leave them in the empty house.

I also have a completion of registration document from hm land registry which references the title and the property being registered solely in my mother's name after my father died.  I will be taking this will me.

You may not need it. Go to the Land Registry's site and check that the details are correct on the property in question (£3 to download the appropriate document - any more than that and you're not on the LR's own website). https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

tacpot12

Alter_ego said:

So long as the house is registered at the land registry paper documents are only of sentmental value.

This is a common view, but in my experience, incorrect. There is a wealth of information on the Title Deeds that is not normally transferred to the Land Registry Title or the Plan.

The Title Plan at the Land Registry for my house was incorrect. It didn't show the garden, but the paper deeds clearly included the garden in earlier conveyances.

My advice would be to photograph them and store the images somewhere on a Cloud-based storage service. Then store the physical copies in a good fire safe and in a waterproof pouch. (You can and should keep other irreplacable documents in the same place). 

Flugelhorn

@[Deleted User] at present I would take them back to Germany with you, they won't be needed for the conveyancing but will be safer there and banks etc are not so keen on storing stuff these days

[Deleted User]

Marcon said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have found documents and titles etc going back to when the house was first built in 1936 in a fire box at my late mother's house.  Until sale the house will be empty.  I could leave the documents here,  take them to Germany (where I live), or perhaps I could take them to a bank for storage.  I don't know how important they are,  but I don't really want to leave them in the empty house.

I also have a completion of registration document from hm land registry which references the title and the property being registered solely in my mother's name after my father died.  I will be taking this will me.

You may not need it. Go to the Land Registry's site and check that the details are correct on the property in question (£3 to download the appropriate document - any more than that and you're not on the LR's own website). https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Thanks for the tip. I just did this and purchased both the title and the plan and all the information looks correct. I assume the land registry is the source of truth for these matters.