Guidance

Practice guide 13: official searches of the index of relating franchises and manors

Updated 3 April 2023

Applies to England and Wales

Please note that HM Land Registry’s practice guides are aimed primarily at solicitors and other conveyancers. They often deal with complex matters and use legal terms.

1. Introduction

HM Land Registry keeps an index of verbal descriptions of registered franchises that are relating franchises and of registered manors (rule 10(b) of the Land Registration Rules 2003).

To apply for an official search of the index either apply online through Business e-services or use form SIF (rule 146 of the Land Registration Rules 2003). The certificate of result will show whether any registered relating franchise or manor relates to the administrative area(s) searched together with the title numbers that affect and the type of registration. Index of verbal descriptions lists the different types of registration that can be revealed on an official search of the index.

2. What constitutes a franchise

A franchise is a right or privilege granted by the Crown. Examples include the right to take a toll or the right to hold a fair or market. It is an intangible right. It does not involve ownership of the physical land and is separate from any freehold or leasehold interests in the land itself. In legal terms, it is an incorporeal hereditament. The Land Registration Act 2002 permits the registration of a franchise with its own title. A franchise in this context does not include any commercial/trading rights or creation of a chartered corporation that have no direct effect on property.

A franchise granted with reference to ‘City of Sunlight’ in 1189 would be difficult to define in 2003 because the boundaries of the city will have changed considerably. This type of franchise is known as a ‘relating franchise’ as it relates only generally to an area. We do not prepare a title plan for a relating franchise registration and it will be entered in the verbal index. On the other hand, an ‘affecting franchise’ that can be defined as affecting a particular area is indexed on the index map.

Practice guide 18: franchises: registration under the Land Registration Act 2002 contains further information on franchises. Practice guide 10: index map: official search explains how to search the index map in order to ascertain whether an affecting franchise is registered.

3. What constitutes a manor

The registered manors that appear in the index are for lordship titles. The lordship of the manor is simply the title by which the lord of the manor is known. In many cases the title will no longer have any land or rights attached to it. Because of its origin and lack of physical substance it is also known as an incorporeal hereditament. These registrations do not have title plans and we do not hold any definitive record of the extent of the original manor.

Practice guide 22: manors: manorial titles and rights contains further information about manorial land.

4. Index of verbal descriptions

HM Land Registry must keep an index from which it is possible to ascertain whether any registered estates or cautions against first registration relate to a parcel of land (section 68 of the Land Registration Act 2002). Because the extent of a relating franchise or manor cannot be determined with any precision, we hold the information in an index of verbal descriptions known as the index of relating franchises and manors (rule 10(b) of the Land Registration Rules 2003).

The index is arranged by administrative area and contains the title numbers and details of the following types of registration.

  • pending applications for first registration of title to relating franchises
  • pending applications for cautions against first registration where the subject of the caution is a relating franchise
  • registered franchises which are relating franchises
  • registered manors
  • cautions against first registration where the subject of the caution is a relating franchise

5. Obtaining information held in the index

5.1 How to apply

To apply for an official search of the index either apply online through Business e-services otherwise you must use the prescribed form SIF.

You may apply to search the index against administrative areas. Entries in the index are recorded against the administrative area(s) to which they relate.

You must quote on any search all the current administrative area(s) that apply to the land in which you are interested. For the purposes of applications in form SIF an administrative area is a county or unitary authority.

A list of the administrative areas is contained in Appendix A to this guide. We will reject any application that does not refer to a listed administrative area.

We will ignore any additional information supplied such as a detailed property description or a plan. We will process the application by reference to the quoted administrative area(s) alone.

For electronic applications, under Search Index of Relating Franchises and Manors, you should select the type of registration to indicate if you are searching Franchises, Manors or both.

For applications in form SIF, if neither box in panel 1 of form SIF is ticked, we will complete the application for both relating franchises and manors. Note: we will reject any postal application for an official search of the index of relating franchises and manors not made on the prescribed form. To find out where to send a completed postal application, see HM Land Registry address for applications.

5.2 Fees

Please see HM Land Registry: Information Services fees for information on the fees payable for this service.

5.3 Certificate of result

Where possible, the certificate of result will be sent by return of post. Where the search reveals there are entries in the index relating to the administrative area(s) quoted, the certificate will include an extract of the index. Where there are no entries to reveal, the certificate will include a statement to that effect.

6. Enquiries

If you have a particular concern that is not covered by this guide, please contact HM Land Registry in advance of any search. If the problem is particularly complex, it may be better if you make your enquiry in writing at the HM Land Registry office that will process your application.

7. Appendix A

The index of relating franchises and manors is arranged by administrative area. The table alongside sets out all the administrative areas suitable for the purposes of a form SIF application together with HM Land Registry offices they are served by.

Administrative area
England  
Barnsley  
Bath and North East Somerset  
Bedford  
Birmingham  
Blackburn with Darwen  
Blackpool  
Bolton  
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole  
Bracknell Forest  
Bradford  
Brighton and Hove (City of)  
Bristol (City of)  
Buckinghamshire  
Bury  
Calderdale  
Cambridgeshire  
Central Bedfordshire  
Cheshire East  
Cheshire West and Chester  
Cornwall  
County Durham  
Coventry  
Cumberland  
Darlington  
Derby (City of)  
Derbyshire  
Devon  
Doncaster  
Dorset  
Dudley  
East Riding of Yorkshire  
East Sussex  
Essex  
Gateshead  
Gloucestershire  
Halton  
Hampshire  
Hartlepool  
Herefordshire (County of)  
Hertfordshire  
Isle of Wight  
Isles of Scilly  
Kent  
Kingston upon Hull (City of)  
Kirklees  
Knowsley  
Lancashire  
Leeds  
Leicester  
Leicestershire  
Lincolnshire  
Liverpool  
Luton  
Manchester  
Medway  
Middlesbrough  
Milton Keynes  
Newcastle upon Tyne  
Norfolk  
North East Lincolnshire  
North Lincolnshire  
North Northamptonshire  
North Somerset  
North Tyneside  
North Yorkshire  
Northumberland  
Nottingham (City of)  
Nottinghamshire  
Oldham  
Oxfordshire  
Peterborough (City of)  
Plymouth (City of)  
Portsmouth  
Reading  
Redcar and Cleveland  
Rochdale  
Rotherham  
Rutland  
St Helens  
Salford  
Sandwell  
Sefton  
Sheffield  
Shropshire  
Slough  
Solihull  
Somerset  
South Gloucestershire  
South Tyneside  
Southampton  
Southend-on-Sea  
Staffordshire  
Stockport  
Stockton-on-Tees  
Stoke-on-Trent (City of)  
Suffolk  
Sunderland  
Surrey  
Swindon  
Tameside  
Thurrock  
Torbay  
Trafford  
Wakefield  
Walsall  
Warrington  
Warwickshire  
West Berkshire  
West Northamptonshire  
West Sussex  
Westmorland and Furness  
Wigan  
Wiltshire  
Wirral  
Windsor and Maidenhead  
Wokingham  
Wolverhampton (City of)  
Worcestershire  
Wrekin (County of) (otherwise known as The Wrekin)  
York  
London authorities  
Barking and Dagenham  
Barnet  
Bexley  
Brent  
Bromley  
Camden  
City and the County of the City of London  
City of Westminster  
Croydon  
Ealing  
Enfield  
Greenwich  
Hackney  
Hammersmith and Fulham  
Haringey  
Harrow  
Havering  
Hillingdon  
Hounslow  
The Inner Temple and The Middle Temple  
Islington  
Kensington and Chelsea  
Kingston upon Thames  
Lambeth  
Lewisham  
Merton  
Newham  
Redbridge  
Richmond upon Thames  
Southwark  
Sutton  
Tower Hamlets  
Waltham Forest  
Wandsworth  
Wales/Cymru  
Blaenau Gwent  
Bridgend  
Pen-y-Bont Ar Ogwr  
Caerphilly  
Caerffili  
Cardiff  
Caerdydd  
Carmarthenshire  
Sir Gaerfyrddin  
Ceredigion  
Sir Ceredigion  
Conwy  
Denbighshire  
Sir Ddinbych  
Flintshire  
Sir Y Fflint  
Gwynedd  
Isle of Anglesey  
Ynys Mon  
Merthyr Tydfil  
Merthyr Tudful  
Monmouthshire  
Sir Fynwy  
Neath Port Talbot  
Castell-Nedd Port Talbot  
Newport  
Casnewydd  
Pembrokeshire  
Sir Benfro  
Powys  
Rhondda Cynon Taff  
Rhondda Cynon Taf  
Swansea  
Abertawe  
The Vale of Glamorgan  
Bro Morgannwg  
Torfaen  
Tor-Faen  
Wrexham  
Wrecsam  

8. Things to remember

We only provide factual information and impartial advice about our procedures. Read more about the advice we give.