§ 6.35 p.m.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on this Bill.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Lord Chancellor.)
§ House in Committee accordingly.
§ [The LORD AILWYN in the Chair.]
§ Clauses 1 to 8 agreed to.
§ Clause 9 [Exclusion of certain land charges from Land Charges Act 1925]:
§
THE LORD CHANCELLOR moved Amendment No. 1:
Page 7, line 37, after ("than") insert ("a land charge falling within subsection (2) below or").
§ The noble and learned Lord said: This is a paving Amendment, and is one of a group of three which I could almost conscientiously call "technical", but my perhaps undue scrupulousness leads me to explain a little more what it is about. The Amendments correct a defect in Clause 9 by providing that land charges created in deeds necessitating first registration of title are not excluded from 1052 the Land Charges Act 1925 if they do not affect the land subject to first registration. Clause 9 inserts into the Land Charges Act 1925 a new section which, if agreed to, will be called Section 23A. This provides that land charges created in deeds inducing first registration of title are not registerable under the Land Charges Act. I explained the reason for that on Second Reading.
§ The new Section 23A is wide enough to exclude from the Land Charges Act land charges which are imposed by such deeds on land other than the land conveyed by the deed. This is a manifest drafting error. For example, under the clause in its present form a restrictive covenant benefiting the land conveyed and burdening the land retained by the vendor would not be subject to the Land Charges Act. That is clearly not the draftman's intention. Moreover, if (as will usually be the case where the title of the land sold off is required to be registered) the land retained by the vendor is unregistered, land charges burdening the retained land will not be recorded on the register of title until the retained land itself comes to be registered, and that may not be for many years later. It is therefore clearly desirable that land charges burdening the retained land in these circumstances should continue to be registerable under the Land Charges Act, and the Amendments have this effect. In my opinion, they are purely drafting for that reason, because they affect the purpose which I explained on Second Reading.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR: The same remarks apply to this Amendment. I beg to move Amendment No. 2.
§ Amendment moved—
§
Page 7, line 44, at end insert—
( ) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to a land charge created as there mentioned if the estate owner whose estate is intended to be affected is not the grantee within the meaning of subsection (1) of the said section 123."—(The Lord Chancellor.)
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR: I beg to move Amendment No. 3.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 8, line 5, after ("excludes") insert ("certain").—(The Lord Chancellor.)
§ Clause 9, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clauses 10 to 13 agreed to.
§ Clause 14 [Repeals]:
§
THE LORD CHANCELLOR moved Amendment No. 4:
Page 9, line 2, at end insert—("( ) the Land Registry (Middlesex Deeds) Act 1891;
§ The noble and learned Lord said: This, and all the subsequent Amendments forming a second group, are a new feature of the Bill, and as I see them they are unimportant and uncontroversial. They are part of the law revision exercise and are designed to repeal spent enactments relating to the obsolete Middlesex Deeds Registry. This is no longer used. It was started by an Act of 1708, and it still remains, with certain other spent enactments, as part of the useless/umber on our Statute Book. The purpose of these Amendments is to get rid of it. I beg to move.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR: I beg to move Amendment No. 5.
§ Amendment moved—
§
Page 9, line 14, at end insert—
(v) section 18 (Middlesex Registry Act 1708 not to apply to certain instruments);
(c) section 2 of the Land Registration Act 1936 (closing of Middlesex Deeds Registry)."—(The Lord Chancellor.)
§ Clause 14, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clause agreed to.
§ Schedule 1 agreed to.
§ Schedule 2 [Repeals]:
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR: I beg to move Amendment No. 6. It is on the same point as the last Amendment.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 13, line 5, at end insert—
| ("54 & 55 Vict.c.64 | The Land Registry (Middlesex Deeds) Act 1891. | The whole Act." |
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORI beg to move Amendment No. 7, which is on the same point.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 13, line 11, column 3, at end insert ("Section 18.")—(The Lord Chancellor.)
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORAmendment No. 8 is on the same point. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 13, line 12, column 3, leave out ("Section") and insert ("Sections 2 and").—(The Lord Chancellor.)
§ Schedule 2, as amended, agreed to.
§ House resumed: Bill reported, with the Amendments.