Two provisions in the Land Registration Act 1997 come into effect on 28 April 1997 extending the situations in which an indemnity is payable by HM Land Registry and allowing certain registration fees to be reduced.The indemnity changes are introduced by means of a new section 83 to the Land Registration Act 1925.

In future an indemnity will be payable to anyone who suffers loss as a result of an error or omission in the register whether or not the register is rectified.

An indemnity will not be made where the loss was due wholly or partly to the applicant's fraud or wholly due to the applicant's lack of proper care.

Where the loss is partly due to the applicant's lack of proper care then the indemnity will be reduced to reflect the contributory negligence.

No indemnity will be payable in respect of costs and expenses incurred without the registrar's consent except in cases of urgency or retrospective consent.

The rights of the Land Registry to recoup indemnities are extended so that it can pursue any claim which could have been pursued by the person indemnified or in w hose name the register has been rectified.

These new provisions apply to indemnity claims currently awaiting settlement as well as those made after 28 April 1997.

The provisions dealing with costs only apply to those incurred in matters begun after 28 April 1997.

In respect of fees, the Lord Chancellor is given power to authorise specially reduced fees in order to encourage voluntary registration of title in cases where compulsory first registration is not triggered.

These provisions complement the main purpose of the Act contained in section 1 which is to extend the compulsory registration of title which is due to come into force on 1 January 1998.LAND REGISTRATION FEES ORDER 1997A new Land Registration Fees Order came into force on 1 April.

Explained here are the changes which will arise as a result.

The effect of the new Order is in four main areas:-- The main fee scale (Scale 1)Scale 1 applies to transfers for values, new leases and first registrations.

Here, the fee for each fee band covering transaction values in the range £30,001 to £150,000 have been reduced by £10.-- Fees for pre-completion servicesThe fees for most pre-completion services, such as inspection and office copies of the register, filed plans and other documents, and official searches, are reduced by 20%.

Those fees which are currently £5 will be reduced to £4 and those which are currently £10 will be reduced to £8 (the exceptions are the fees for searches of the index of proprietors' names and the taking of affidavits, where the fees remain the same).

Copies of index map sections, where the fee is currently £50, will in future cost £40.

Significantly, the fee for inspection of the register by means of the Land Registry's Direct Access Service has also been reduced by £1, from £3 to £2, representing a reduction of 33%.

(Practitioners interested in knowing more about this service, which can also be used to order office copies and deliver official searches electronically, should contact Brian Barrett at the Land Registry's Headquarters, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH; DX 1098 London/Chancery Lane; telephone 0171 917 8888 ext 4393).-- Searches of the index map and requests for the supply of title numbersUnder the new Order the basic fee for searches of the index map is reduced by 20% (from £5 to £4 for each title disclosed) in line with other pre-completion services.

However, it has been decided to exercise the registrar's powers of waiver under the Order in a way which should ensure that, in practice, the great majority of searches of the index map will be free of charge.

Under the waiver, which will also apply from 1 April 1997, where a search of the index map discloses either that the land is not registered, or is registered under not more than 10 titles, the applicant will not be required to pay any fee for this service.

In the few cases where more than 10 titles are disclosed, the applicant will only be required to pay the prescribed fee for those titles disclosed in excess of 10 (for example, where 15 titles are disclosed, the fee will be £20 ie 5 x £4).

Similarly, where an applicant applies for office copies of the register on form 109, or inspection of the register on form 111, and asks for the title numbers to be supplied by the Land Registry, no fee for the 'please supply' service will be payable where the land in question is not registered under more than 10 titles.

If the number of titles exceeds 10, then the £4 fee payable under the Order will be required.

This is in addition to the prescribed fee for the off ice copies supplied, or inspection of the registers in question.-- Trustee restrictionsWhere a restriction in form 62 is entered on the register on the registration of joint proprietors (ie where the survivor cannot give a valid receipt for capital money) the entry is made without fee (under paragraph (5) of schedule 4 to the Fees Order).

Under a further waiver, this exemption will be extended to any occasion when application is made for entry of a form 62 restriction.

The waiver also applies to the new trustee restrictions in form 11A (restriction protecting the rights of beneficiaries under a trust of land) and form 11B (restriction protecting the rights of persons interested in the due administration of an estate).

This waiver recognises that these three forms of restriction are entered on the register either as a result of an obligation upon the registrar or as the result of a statutory duty laid upon trustees.

Practitioners may find further information as to the wording of these restrictions, and their use, in the Land Registry's latest Practice Advice Leaflet No 13 (Private Trusts of Land) available from any Land Registry office.Otherwise, there are no increases either in scale or fixed fees.

In particular, minimum scale fees have again been held unchanged.

These have remained unaltered for over four and a-half years since October 1992, and represent a continuing reduction in real terms.

Fees for land charges and agricultural credit applications also remain unchanged.

These have remained at their present low level for over six years and 11 years respectively.The policy of the Land Registry is to use surplus income in the best interests of its customers, either directly as a reduction in fees, or indirectly, as an investment in new and enhanced services.The primary reason for the new Order is to continue to reduce fees.

The Order is projected to reduce the Land Registry's total fee income by approximately 8.4%, equivalent to some £19 million over a full financial year.

This, together with the two previous Orders, represents a cumulative reduction of over 20% in the Land Registry's fee income over the last three years.The ability of the Registry to achieve yet further reductions in fees is mainly the result of two factors.

First there are the further improvements in efficiency and increases in productivity resulting from the efforts of Land Registry staff, assisted by the continuing development of the Registry's computer and information technology systems and changes in working practice.

Secondly, as a government trading fund, it has been possible, with Treasury approval, to make use of a proportion of surplus income arising in previous years.