This Order may be cited as the Land Registration (Proper Office) Order 2008 and shall come into force on 1 April 2009.

(1)    This Order applies to any application to the registrar except an application delivered to the registrar—

(a)    in accordance with a written arrangement as to delivery made between the registrar and the applicant or between the registrar and the applicant's conveyancer, or

(b)    under the provisions of any relevant notice given under Schedule 2 to the Land Registration Rules 2003.

(2)    In this article “conveyancer” means—

(a)    a solicitor,

(b)    a licensed conveyancer within the meaning of section 11(2) of the Administration of Justice Act 1985,

(c)    a fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives,

(d)    a barrister,

(e)    a duly certificated notary public, or

(f)    a registered European lawyer within the meaning of the European Communities (Lawyer's Practice) Regulations 2000 who by virtue of regulations 6 and 12 of those Regulations is entitled to prepare for remuneration an instrument creating or transferring an interest in land in England and Wales.

(1)    The proper office for the receipt of an application to which this Order applies is any office of the land registry specified in column 1 of the Schedule which is opposite an administrative area shown in column 2 of the Schedule in which the land to which that application relates is wholly or partly situated.

(2)    In the Schedule, reference to an office of the land registry does not include any sub-office of that office.

The Land Registration (Proper Office) Order 2007 and the Land Registration (Proper Office) (Amendment) Order 2008 are revoked.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Michael Wills

Minister of State

Ministry of Justice

15th December 2008

This Order, which comes into force on 1 April 2009, designates particular offices of the land registry as the proper office for the receipt of specified descriptions of application under the Land Registration Act 2002. It replaces the Land Registration (Proper Office) Order 2007 and the Land Registration (Proper Office) (Amendment) Order 2008.

As a consequence of this Order, on and after 1 April 2009, the Land Registry's Lancashire and Lytham Offices will be replaced by one proper office: Land Registry, Fylde Office. This will be the proper office for the administrative areas previously dealt with by the Lancashire and Lytham Offices. The Fylde Office will initially be administered from the current sites of the Lancashire and Lytham Offices.

The Order also reflects changes made under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (c 28). The changes come into force on 1 April 2009. They include the abolition of the counties of Cheshire and Bedfordshire as local government areas and their replacement, in the case of the county of Cheshire, by Cheshire East and by Cheshire West and Chester and, in the case of the county of Bedfordshire, by Bedford and by Central Bedfordshire. The proper offices for these areas remain unchanged.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no significant impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.