Statutory land charges

A statutory land charge may be released under section 120(1) or section 120(3) of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (the Act).

Release by the chargeholder

A statutory land charge may be released by the chargeholder under s120(1) of the Act.   

A charge may be released from:

• all of the land using the instrument code, “DSLC – Discharge of Statutory Land Charge”, or 
• part of the land using the instrument code “PSLC – Partial Discharge of SLC”.  

These instruments are template instruments and practitioners must retain the evidence supporting their certifications on file and produce it if the dealing is selected for compliance review under s30(3) of the Act.

Application for release by the registered owner

The registered owner of land may apply to the Registrar-General of Land to release a charge under section 120(3) of the Act.

The application must:

• state whether the land is being released from the whole or part of the charge, and if in part, a description of the part, and
• be accompanied by evidence that establishes that it is impossible or impracticable to obtain a certificate of release of the charge from the chargeholder.

The application is lodged using the instrument code, “A120 - Application for Release of Statutory Land Charge”. An “A120” is an image only instrument with certifications.  

A copy of the application and accompanying evidence is uploaded to the instrument.

Practitioners must retain the evidence supporting their certifications on file, that being the signed A&I form from the applicant, and produce it if the dealing is selected for compliance review under s30(3) of the Act.