Form LL Restriction — Everything Answered

A Form LL restriction is an entry on your property title register at Land Registry that prevents any sale, remortgage or transfer from being registered without a Certificate of Compliance. The certificate must be signed by an independent conveyancer confirming they have verified the identity of the person executing the transaction as the genuine registered owner.

You almost certainly had it registered voluntarily when you bought the property — usually by ticking a box in your conveyancing paperwork — as a protection against property title fraud. It is particularly common on buy to let properties and properties owned by people who do not live at the address. Some people have no recollection of requesting it — solicitors sometimes add it automatically as a matter of good practice.

Check your title register at Land Registry (gov.uk/search-property-information, approximately £3). Look in section B of the title register. If you see an entry containing the phrase "without a certificate signed by a conveyancer" — you have a Form LL restriction.

Any disposition of the registered estate — this includes selling the property, remortgaging, transferring equity (adding or removing a name), granting a lease, and transferring to a limited company. It does not affect your ability to live in, rent out or make changes to the property.

Only an independent, SRA-regulated solicitor can issue the certificate. Independent means they must not be acting on the transaction itself. Your remortgage solicitor, your sale solicitor, and the lender's panel solicitor are all conflicted. The certificate must come from a completely separate firm with no connection to your transaction.

The certificate must confirm that the certifying solicitor is satisfied that the person who executed the transaction document is the same person as the registered proprietor. The exact prescribed wording is set by Land Registry Practice Guide 19, section 3.1.5.5. The certificate must reference the specific transaction document — Mortgage Deed for a remortgage, TR1 for a sale or transfer — and must be signed with a wet ink signature.

The certificate is emailed directly to you. You pass it to your transaction solicitor, who includes it in the Land Registry application. FormLL's solicitor does not submit anything directly to Land Registry — that is your transaction solicitor's role.

No. Each certificate is drafted for one specific transaction and cannot be reused. If you remortgage now and sell in three years, you will need a new certificate for the sale. The restriction remains on your title and must be satisfied for every transaction.

FormLL charges £160 inc VAT for a standard service with a 3–5 working day best-effort turnaround, or £240 inc VAT for Fast Track which guarantees the certificate by next working day. Additional owners attract a £50 inc VAT supplement per person beyond the first. These are all-in fixed fees — nothing more to pay to FormLL.

With FormLL standard service: a specialist solicitor is confirmed within 24 hours of booking and the certificate is typically issued within 3–5 working days. Fast Track guarantees the certificate by next working day, provided you book before 3pm and are available for the video call that day.

Standard (£160) is a best-effort service — the solicitor is confirmed within 24 hours and the certificate typically arrives within 3–5 working days. Fast Track (£240) guarantees a solicitor on call will conduct the video call and issue the certificate on the next working day. Choose Fast Track if your completion date is imminent or your mortgage offer is close to expiry.

Yes. All legal owners named on the title register must attend the same video call and be verified before the certificate can be issued. Both owners must be present simultaneously. An additional fee of £50 inc VAT applies per additional owner.

Yes. The video call can be joined from anywhere in the world. Both owners must be on the same call at the same time but can be in completely different locations. You just need a working internet connection and a camera.

Yes. Each property with a Form LL restriction requires its own Certificate of Compliance. Each certificate is specific to one title number and one transaction. If you are refinancing multiple properties simultaneously, contact FormLL to discuss parallel arrangements.

The Land Registry requirement is the same regardless of lender. However, some lenders' panel solicitors — particularly Optima Legal (used by Barclays) and Integra (used by Halifax and Lloyds) — may require additional specific wording beyond the Land Registry standard. When booking, always note your lender and their panel firm so the correct wording is used.