-- Another lender joins ENDs system On 1 November, Cheshire Building Society will join the Electronic Notification of Discharge system (ENDs).

The Society will the first lender to join following the successful completion of the pilot phase.

Under this system the registrar accepts an electronic message from the lender in place of form DS1 as evidence of the discharge of a charge.The Land Registry has prepared a practice leaflet to replace the guidance leaflets issued by individual lenders.

The leaflet explains the finalised ENDs system and the service standards to which lenders have agreed.

The Land Registry will circulate this leaflet to all customers who currently use a credit account.

Copies of the leaflet will also be available from district registries.The system is essentially the same system adopted in the pilot phase and will be identical for every lender.

However, each lender will have the option to acknowledge the form END1 or return a receipted copy to the practitioner.

The standardised form END1 is being sent to forms publishers and software houses for inclusion in their conveyancing packages.Land Registry leaflets are available free of charge from any district land registry or by writing to the Information Centre at Land Registry HQ, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH, DX 1098 London/Chancery Lane, fax: 0171 955 0110, or tel: 0171 917 8888 and choosing general enquiries.-- Voluntary restrictions Voluntary restrictions are entries made on the register on the application of the proprietor of a registered title or charge.

They commonly provide that no disposition of the land - or no disposition of a particular kind) - is to be registered without the consent of another person, or without a certificate that some provision in the transfer or lease which created the title has been complied with.-- Retention of charge certificates in the Land RegistryFrom 1 November 1999, the Land Registry will no longer issue charge certificates for new residential charges in favour of Nationwide Building Society.

These charges bear mortgage document reference numbers MD334B, MD334B/01, MD334C, MD334D and MD334E on their face.The following note will appear in the charges register of each affected title:'The charge certificate relating to the charge dated (date) in favour of (chargee) is retained in H M Land Registry (s.63 of the Land Registration Act 1925).' On completion of the registration practitioners will receive a copy of the register entries - and of the filed plan if the plan was created or altered as a result of the same application.The charge certificate will, if needed subsequently, be made up free of charge but will only be sent to a practitioner if evidence of the chargee's consent is provided.Charge certificates will still be issued for other charges against the title and those certificates will have to be produced on dealings as at present.

Leases and other documents not currently filed in the Land Registry will continue to be held by the chargee or as it directs.It is anticipated that similar procedures will extend to other lenders in the near future.Any comments arising from the above should be addressed to Linda Chamberlain at Land Registry Headquarters, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH (DX: 1098 London/Chancery Lane WC2.

FAX: 0171 955 0110.

E-mail: lib.hmlr@gtnet.gov.uk.).-- New practice leafletThe Land Registry sometimes rejects or amends a voluntary restriction even though its terms have been agreed between the parties to the transfer, lease or other instrument in which it is applied for.

The Registry has prepared a leaflet (practice leaflet 29) to help practitioners avoid this.

The leaflet explains what is required in a voluntary restriction and how it should be worded.Developers often use voluntary restrictions as a means of making obligations in transfers enforceable against successors in title of the original transferees.

These obligations may be owed to the developer itself or to an estate management company.

A similar device is sometimes used in leases where a company other than the lessor is managing the common parts of a development.

The leaflet gives examples of such restrictions and discusses their possible effect.

-- Advice on applicationsWhen registering a transfer or lease of a new property, be sure to notice whether it contains an application for a restriction, whether the restriction affects the purchasers' mortgage and, if so, whether it has been complied with.

For example, if there is a restriction calling for the developer's consent to any disposition and that restriction is to have priority to the charge being registered (as will normally be the case), the developer's consent to the charge must accompany your application.

Describe the application (in panel 3 of form AP1 or panel 5 of form FR1) as 'Transfer/Restriction/ Charge' or 'Lease/Restriction/Charge', as appropriate.Similarly if registering two charges and the first contains an application for a restriction, notice whether it affects the second charge and whether it has been complied with.

List the restriction separately on the application form, and lodge any required consent.Land Registry leaflets are available free of charge from any district land registry or by writing to the Information Centre at Land Registry HQ, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH, DX 1098 London/Chancery Lane, fax: 0171 955 0110, or tel: 0171 917 8888 and choosing general enquiries.