Q: What are manorial rights?
Manorial rights are ancient land rights dating back to when the land was divided into areas known as manors which were, for the most part, owned by a Lord. People living within the manor had certain rights to the land but usually the overall ownership was with the Lord. This included mineral rights under the land, sporting rights over the land and various other rights.
Over time, land ownership changed and the manorial system of land organisation and ownership was broken down. Although titles such as Lord of the Manor seem to have little relevance to us today, they do still exist and can have important rights attached to them, surviving from manorial times.
Q: Who is MRH (Minerals) Ltd?
MRH (Minerals) Ltd is a company that owns the mineral rights (manorial or otherwise). Their predecessors in title owned manorial mineral rights.
Q: Why is MRH (Minerals) Ltd registering mineral rights?
This is simply a response to a change in the law. The Land Registration Act 2002 requires the owners of such manorial rights to register or otherwise protect them before October 2013. After that date these rights would lose their protected status. MRH Minerals (Ltd) is merely protecting rights it already owns.
MRH (Minerals) Ltd has also chosen to identify and register other mineral rights that it owns which, though not necessarily manorial, were retained on the sale of land to a third party.
Q: Why have I received a Notice from the Land Registry?
The notice has been sent to you by the Registry as it has decided that it needs to make you aware of MRH (Minerals) Ltd’s application as it may affect your registered surface land title. The Registry may have sent you one of two types of notice.
A Form B29 Notice
This notice has been sent because MRH (Minerals) Ltd has applied to register the mines and minerals under your property. These interests will be based on a reservation to the Company’s predecessor in title under a private enfranchisement of land (an agreement between the Lord of the Manor and the copyhold tenant to buy the Lord of the Manor’s freehold title) or on the inclosure of the land where it was formerly common of the Manor belonging to the Lord. In the case of inclosure the manorial rights were kept by the Lord and the surface given to other landowners.
It may not be apparent on your registered title that you do not own these rights so the Registry is alerting you to the fact that MRH (Minerals) Ltd is claiming them.
If you have received such a Notice and are unsure what to do you should consult your own solicitor.
A Form B133 Notice
This Notice has been sent because MRH (Minerals) Ltd has applied for a Unilateral Notice to be entered on your surface land title. Such a Notice is another way for manorial rights owners to protect their interests from the change in the law. It means that research suggests your property was formerly part of a particular manor and that the rights were reserved to MRH (Minerals) Ltd’s predecessor in title when your land was enfranchised (changed from copyhold of the manor to freehold) probably under the terms of the Law of Property Act 1922.
The Registry is obliged to inform you that they have added this Notice to your title.
If you have received such a Notice and are unsure what to do you should consult your own solicitor
Q: Does this mean that there will be mineral extraction under my property?
Although MRH (Minerals) Ltd owns substantial mineral interests and does allow the extraction of minerals, there are restrictions on this extraction such as environmental considerations as well as the need for planning permission. Whilst we are not prepared to say that extraction will never be considered in a particular, we do stress that the reason for this registration exercise is simply to protect the Company’s assets in response to a change in the law.
The registration exercise does not change the position with regard to ownership or potential extraction. MRH (Minerals) Ltd has long owned these rights and could exploit them without having had to register them.
If you are in any doubt as to how this registration affects your property you should consult your own solicitor.
Q: Will this affect the value of my property?
An exclusion of mines and minerals from a title to land is not uncommon and solicitors are used to seeing such exclusions. References to manorial rights are less common but with the change in the law and many manorial owners carrying out similar registration exercises, such references will become more familiar to conveyancers.
If you are in any doubt as to how this registration affects your property you should consult your own solicitor.
Please note:- These FAQs do not constitute legal advice. They are intended for information only and do not cover all aspects of our registration process. If you are in any doubt as to any course of action or correspondence you have received then please consult your solicitor. The contents of these FAQs does not bind the Company in any way or to any course of action or otherwise.