SECOND READING. (Hansard, 23 March 1888)

§ LORD HOBHOUSE

, in moving that the Bill be now read a second time, said, that it was intended to remove some of the dangers which beset purchasers in the shape of charges upon the purchased land. By the Statute of 1837 judgments had to be registered in the Common Pleas Office; but that had necessitated a number of expensive searches, and in 1860 an Act had been passed to give further security to purchasers, requiring not only the registration of judgments but also that of writs of execution, and that such writs should be enforced within three months. In 1864 another Act was passed to give further protection; but, unfortunately, instead of giving further protection to the purchaser, it took away that which he already had. This miscarriage of the Legislature was found out in the recent case of Re Pope, and it created great alarm among purchasers of land and their legal advisers. It necessitated expensive searches, which were simply prohibitory in the case of small purchases. He proposed to require again 169 that no judgment or order should have effect until registered. Another point related to Receivers in Bankruptcy. He was told that, owing to the want of a central office, searches for Receiving orders were enormously expensive and long, and in small purchases were quite prohibited by the cost. He proposed that all charges must be registered in the central registry. A third point dealt with in this Bill was that of the numerous class of Acts passed in late years enabling charges to be made upon the land for drainage and improvements of various kinds. The present system required a large number of different searches, in spite of some consolidation having been effected. They should all be registered in the central office. He thought that everybody must agree with the objects of this Bill. What he now proposed was to ask their Lordships to read it a second time, and then that it should be referred to the same Committee which would sit upon the Land Transfer Bill.