If you are a landlord in England and Wales with a Form LL restriction on a buy to let property, you are far from alone. Buy to let properties are among the most common properties to have a Form LL fraud restriction on their title. Every time you remortgage, sell or transfer a property with this restriction, a Certificate of Compliance from an independent solicitor is required..for a free assessment.
Form LL restriction on your buy to let? Call us for a free assessment.
The Form LL restriction is an anti-fraud measure registered at HM Land Registry. It is particularly recommended — and commonly found — on buy to let properties in England and Wales for a straightforward reason: the registered owner does not live at the property. This makes the title more vulnerable to property title fraud, where a fraudster attempts to sell or remortgage a property without the genuine owner's knowledge.
HM Land Registry specifically recommends the Form LL restriction for buy to let landlords, overseas property owners and anyone who does not live at their registered property. Many landlords in England and Wales find the restriction already on their title when they come to remortgage — often placed there by the solicitor who handled their original purchase.
The most common situation for buy to let landlords encountering a Form LL restriction is a remortgage. Whether you are switching lender at the end of a fixed rate, raising capital for another purchase or moving to a better rate, your new lender's panel firm will identify the Form LL restriction during title investigation and require a Certificate of Compliance before registration can proceed.
Buy to let remortgages have the same lenders as residential remortgages in this context — Barclays (via Optima Legal), Halifax and Lloyds (via Integra), Nationwide, NatWest, Santander and others — all require the certificate. FormLL covers all lenders and all panel firms. Call .
Landlords with multiple buy to let properties who each have a Form LL restriction should consider whether restriction removal makes sense for any of them. Permanently removing the restriction from a property eliminates the certificate requirement for all future transactions on that property. Call to discuss whether restriction removal is right for your portfolio.
The trend of landlords transferring buy to let properties to a limited company (a "Section 24 restructure") is widespread in England and Wales. If your buy to let property has a Form LL restriction, the transfer of equity to the limited company will require a Certificate of Compliance to satisfy the restriction — in addition to all the other legal requirements of a company transfer including SDLT, Capital Gains Tax and mortgage refinancing.
FormLL can assist with the Certificate of Compliance element of a limited company transfer and connect you with specialists for the broader transfer of equity work. Call for a free assessment.
The Form LL restriction exists for good reason. Property title fraud — where a fraudster takes out a mortgage on a property without the genuine owner's knowledge — disproportionately affects buy to let landlords and overseas property owners in England and Wales. If you are a landlord with properties that do not have a Form LL restriction, it is worth considering adding one. It can be registered at Land Registry via a Form RX1 application.
Call us for a free assessment. Specialist confirmed within 24 hours.
Fill in the form and we will call you back within 2 hours during working hours. No obligation.
FormLL is a trading name of HHR Holdings Ltd (Co. No. 17177195). We are not a law firm. All legal work is carried out by independent SRA-regulated solicitors. ICO Reg. ZC132343.
We will call you back within 2 hours during working hours. If your matter is urgent email hello@formll.co.uk directly.