Do I need deeds?

KingGoober

Hello. I finished paying off my mortgage earlier this year. The bank said I should then contact the land registry or something to get my deeds. I've not done this yet - do I actually need to? Can I just do it one day if I ever need them for something, and until that day they can sit filed away at the land registry or whatever? I've no desire to have them for sentimental reasons, and I'll only lose them anyway.

Brie

Some people like to get them and have a bonfire to dance around!!

user1977

Are there any deeds? Registration is electronic these days, there may well not be any papery things sitting anywhere.

p00hsticks

I thought it was more usual that the bank held onto the deeds for security while there was a mortgage and then returned them to the owner (or offered to continue holdng them for a small fee) once the mortgage was paid off.

but that was in 'the olden days' (pre 1990's ?) Nowadays it's all electronic, and if the property is registered online then all the mortgage company does is register a charge against the property entry which will (eventually) be removed as part of the mortgage redemption process. I'd suggest checking to see if the property is actually registered on the electronic land register (use the official website here rather than any looky-likey ones).
Get information about property and land: Get a copy of the deeds - GOV.UK

If the title deeds are showing up as available then that means the property is registered and so the paper deeds are really for historic interest only. If they don't then you need to identify where the paper deeds are and consider getting a first registration with the mad registry. 

tacpot12

The paper deeds can be more than for historic interest. Many errors are made when transfering the deeds to the Land Registry, so having the originals to had can be very useful. I would recommend trying to order any copies that the Land Registry have, just in case. See here: Get information about property and land: Get a copy of the deeds - GOV.UK

You should check that the charge that the lender had on your property has been removed. The Land Registry have been snowed under lately, so I would give it another six months and then check.

35har1old

KingGoober said:

Hello. I finished paying off my mortgage earlier this year. The bank said I should then contact the land registry or something to get my deeds. I've not done this yet - do I actually need to? Can I just do it one day if I ever need them for something, and until that day they can sit filed away at the land registry or whatever? I've no desire to have them for sentimental reasons, and I'll only lose them anyway.

Why was the bank not holding the deeds?

user1977

35har1old said:

KingGoober said:

Hello. I finished paying off my mortgage earlier this year. The bank said I should then contact the land registry or something to get my deeds. I've not done this yet - do I actually need to? Can I just do it one day if I ever need them for something, and until that day they can sit filed away at the land registry or whatever? I've no desire to have them for sentimental reasons, and I'll only lose them anyway.

Why was the bank not holding the deeds?

Banks haven't been keen on bothering to hold any physical deeds for decades. I think the "get my deeds" bit in the OP is just somebody's misunderstanding about the process.

EssexHebridean

You need to give it a few weeks then download a copy of the title from the LR (currently £3, but shortly due to increase) to be sure that the charge has been removed. If there are any other "paper deeds" then those would usually be held by the bank if the purchase of the property happened a long while ago - generally speaking banks haven't asked for even the charge to be sent to them for around 10 years though - it will be held electronically at the Land Reg and that is all that is required. 

Congrats on being mortgage free!