Errors on the Register

Registration of statutory common land

Some common land created by statute was not registered prior to 2 January 1970 and therefore falls out with the 1965 Act and is not on the registers. Schedule 2 makes provision for this to be registered.

• Re-registration of waste land of a manor

  While applications for the registration of common land were being processed in the 1970s, some provisionally registered applications were cancelled or withdrawn as a result of the ruling in the Box Hill1 case which was subsequently overturned. The 2006 Act gives an opportunity for these cases to be reconsidered. The decision will depend on the facts at the time of reapplication not the position when the application was withdrawn. To be reconsidered the land must have been provisionally registered and falls within sub-para. 4(3), 4(4) or 4(5) of Schedule 2 to the 2006 Act. All applications will be passed to the Planning Inspectorate for an impartial decision. A web site giving information on land that might be registered under this provision exists at www.commonsregistration.org.uk . Any rights of common over that land that existed prior to 1970 will no longer exist as they were not registered by the final deadline for such registrations.

• Deregistration of buildings

  Due to the inaccuracies of the maps submitted during the registration process many buildings and dwellings were incorrectly included in common land units. Where the building and its curtilage was in existence at the date of the original provisional registration and the land has remained covered by the building and/or its curtilage (e.g. garden) for the whole period then an application to amend the commons register and map may be made. An application is made using form CA13 and will be referred to the Planning Inspectorate for an impartial decision.

• Deregistration of land wrongly registered

  In addition to buildings some land was wrongly registered and if evidence can be presented to demonstrate the land never was common land, waste of a manor or a town or village green then an application for deregistration can be made as long as any provisional application was not referred to a Commons Commissioner and the land is not a regulated pasture. Form CA13 is used for the application and the applications and proposals are determined by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS).

Declarations of entitlement

Except in the case of rights in gross the commons register is not a register of who owns the rights but of the common rights themselves and who applied to have them registered. This has resulted in column 3 of the register becoming increasingly out of date as time passes and rights have changed hands. In order for the registers to be a useful working document as to who can use the common rights an additional column can now be completed, a declaration of entitlement under reg 44 on the prescribed form.

It is not compulsory to submit a declaration but if it is not completed and column 3 is out of date then the person entitled to use the right forfeits the right to automatic consultation on various matters including changes in the register, voting on commons council, works on commons and entry into agri-environment schemes. In applying for a declaration of entitlement the applicant will have to provide evidence of the number of rights they are entitled to and evidence of the ownership or leasehold of the dominant tenement. If title is not registered at the Land Registry then an epitome of title is acceptable. No declaration is required for common rights in gross as column 3 is proof of ownership.

Corrections

Under s19 of the 2006 Act some errors in the register can be corrected so making the register more accurate. This is particularly aimed at errors made by the registration authority. If the error in a map or quantification of the rights was made by the applicant then it cannot be corrected except perhaps under Schedule 2.

Some errors that can be corrected are where:

• a duplicate entry was made and accepted e.g. by a landlord and a tenant

• the dominant tenement was incorrectly described

• the boundaries of the common have changed due to the movement of a river

• updating the name of person holding a right in gross.

Application is made on form CA10 with evidence of how the error occurred.