How to Fill Out and Submit Form AP1: Panels, Fees, and Filing

To fill out Form AP1, download the current version from GOV.UK, work through its 14 panels in order using your title number and the deed you’re registering, calculate the fee from HM Land Registry’s Scale 1 or Scale 2, complete an ID1 for each unrepresented party if the property is worth more than £6,000, and post the bundle to the Citizen Centre in Bilston. The form itself is a cover sheet: it tells HM Land Registry what change you want made to a registered title and lists the documents that prove you’re entitled to make it.

When You Need an AP1

The AP1 is the standard application to update an existing registered title in England and Wales. Use it to:

Transfer ownership of the whole or part of a property (with a TR1 or TP1).
Register a new mortgage or legal charge (with a CH1 or the lender’s own charge).¹
Register a lease granted for more than seven years, or certain shorter leases that take effect after a gap.²
Register the grant or reservation of an easement where both the benefiting and burdened land are registered.³
Update a registered owner’s name after marriage, civil partnership, or deed poll.⁴

Two situations that look like AP1 territory but aren’t: removing a deceased joint owner uses form DJP,⁵ and severing a joint tenancy to become tenants in common uses form SEV.⁶

What to Have Ready Before You Open the Form

Gather everything first. If a detail is missing or inconsistent across your bundle, the registrar will raise a requisition and your application stops until you respond.

The title number for every registered title affected. A transfer of part or an easement crossing two properties needs all of them.
The deed that gives effect to the transaction (TR1, TP1, CH1, lease, deed of easement, etc.).
The fee, worked out from the correct scale.
A completed ID1 for each unrepresented private individual, where the land is worth more than £6,000.⁷
If anyone is signing under a power of attorney, evidence that the power was validly executed, is still in force, and covers the specific action.⁸

Cross-check names, addresses, and title numbers against the current register entries before writing anything on the AP1. Name mismatches are one of the most common reasons applications stall.

Filling In the 14 Panels

Use the current version of the form from GOV.UK.⁴

Panels 1 to 5: The Application

Panel 1 – Local authority. Enter the council that serves the property: the district council, unitary authority, or London borough you pay council tax or business rates to.⁹

Panel 2 – Title numbers. List every registered title the application affects. For an easement, that means both the dominant and servient titles; leaving one out is a frequent cause of delay.¹⁰

Panel 3 – Whole or part. Tick the first box if the application affects the whole of the registered title, the second if it affects only part.

Panel 4 – The applications. This is the core of the form. List each application on its own line (“transfer of whole,” “registration of charge,” “change of name,” and so on), in the priority order you want them processed, with the corresponding fee alongside each one.

Panel 5 – Documents lodged. List every document you’re sending in. HM Land Registry scans what arrives and destroys the paper. Cherished documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, passports, and probate certificates are returned; everything else should be sent as certified copies rather than originals.⁹

Panels 6 to 11: Parties and Property

Panel 6 – Applicant. The full name of the person actually applying to change the register: usually the buyer in a transfer, or the tenant on a lease registration.

Panel 7 – Who to contact. The person HM Land Registry will correspond with about this application. A solicitor or licensed conveyancer enters firm details, DX address, and key number. A private individual enters name, postal address, and email. Include an email address: posted applications with no email receive no acknowledgment of receipt.⁹

Panels 8 and 9 – Property and additional provisions. Details of the property itself and any extra provisions being registered.

Panel 10 – New charge. Complete only if you’re registering a new mortgage. Otherwise, leave blank.

Panel 11 – Additional information. Anything else the registrar needs, such as a statement showing that a restriction on the title has been complied with.

Panels 12 to 14: Identity

These panels cover identity verification for every party to the application, not just the applicant. Unrepresented private individuals need a completed ID1 where the land is worth more than £6,000.⁷ The ID1 must be dated within three months of submission, requires a colour photograph, and cannot be signed electronically. Verification can be done by a solicitor, a licensed conveyancer, or (for applicants overseas) a foreign lawyer or notary who can evidence their qualification, and it counts the same whether done in person or by video call under HM Land Registry’s digital identity standard.

Working Out the Fee for Panel 4

HM Land Registry uses two fee scales, and picking the wrong one produces an immediate requisition. Reduced portal rates only apply to applications affecting the whole of a registered title; transfers of part pay the full postal rate regardless of how they’re submitted.¹¹

Scale 1: Transactions for Value

Applies to transfers and leases involving money, first registrations, and surrenders for value. The fee is based on the consideration paid or the property’s value:

£0–£80,000: £45 by post, £20 via portal
£80,001–£100,000: £95 by post, £40 via portal
£100,001–£200,000: £230 by post, £100 via portal
£200,001–£500,000: £330 by post, £150 via portal
£500,001–£1,000,000: £655 by post, £295 via portal
£1,000,001 and over: £1,105 by post, £500 via portal

Scale 2: Transactions Not for Value

Applies to gifts, assents to beneficiaries, charges, and various other applications where no money changes hands. Fees are based on the property’s value:

£0–£100,000: £45 by post, £20 via portal
£100,001–£200,000: £70 by post, £30 via portal
£200,001–£500,000: £100 by post, £45 via portal
£500,001–£1,000,000: £145 by post, £65 via portal
£1,000,001 and over: £305 by post, £140 via portal

Private individuals submitting by post pay by cheque or postal order made payable to “HM Land Registry.”¹²

Signing the Deed That Goes With the AP1

The AP1 travels with a deed, and how that deed is signed matters. HM Land Registry accepts electronic signatures through “Mercury signing”: the signature page of the finalised deed is printed, signed in wet ink in front of a witness, then scanned and emailed to the conveyancer alongside the final version of the deed.¹³

Mercury signing only works if every party to the deed is represented by a conveyancer. Narrow exceptions apply to lenders on a mortgage or discharge, personal representatives on an assent, and donors on a power of attorney. If you’re handling your own transaction without a solicitor, Mercury signing isn’t available; use traditional wet-ink signatures throughout.¹³

Submitting the Form

By Post (Private Individuals)

Send the completed AP1, all supporting documents, and payment to:

HM Land Registry
Citizen Centre
PO Box 7806
Bilston
WV1 9QR¹⁴

Use tracked or signed-for delivery. Business customers sending by Royal Mail use PO Box WV1 9QN and include the name of their nearest HM Land Registry office.

Online (Professionals Only)

Solicitors and licensed conveyancers can lodge AP1 applications electronically through HM Land Registry’s portal or Business Gateway, which integrates with case management software and often qualifies for reduced fees.¹⁵ Private individuals cannot currently submit AP1 applications through the portal; post is the only route.

What Happens After You Submit

Speed depends on whether the change can be processed automatically. As of early 2026, around 36% of applications to update the register finish within a day; these are typically simple changes like removing a discharged mortgage. Non-automated applications (transfers, name changes, new leases) more often take about 17 weeks, with most complete within eight months and some reaching around 11 months.¹⁶

While your application is pending, the register shows a note that an application has been received, which protects your position against anyone searching the title. Once processing completes, the register is updated. Professional users can track progress through the portal’s “View My Applications” tool.

Common Reasons Applications Get Held Up

When the registrar spots a problem, they raise a written requisition and pause processing until you reply. Most of the usual triggers are avoidable before you post:

Name mismatches between the register and the transfer deed. “Helen Smith” on the register and “Helen M. Smith” on the TR1 is enough on its own.
Missing title numbers in Panel 2, particularly the servient or dominant title on an easement application.
A conflict between the address for service entered in the Digital Registration Service and the address in Panel 2 of the TR1.
Defective execution of the deed: two signatories with only one witness attestation, or a witness who hasn’t printed their full name.
ID1 problems: dated more than three months before submission, a photograph that isn’t in colour or isn’t on photographic paper, or a photograph the verifier hasn’t signed and dated on the back.⁷
A restriction on the title that hasn’t been complied with, or where evidence of compliance is missing.

Reply to requisitions quickly. Leaving one unanswered for too long can result in the application being cancelled, meaning a resubmission and a fresh fee.

1
GOV.UK. Legal Charges: Registration (CH1)
2
Legislation.gov.uk. Land Registration Act 2002 – Section 27
3
HM Land Registry. Practice Guide 62: Easements
4
GOV.UK. Change the Register (AP1)
5
GOV.UK. Deceased Joint Proprietor (DJP)
6
GOV.UK. Change From Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common
7
GOV.UK. Verify Identity: Citizen (ID1)
8
GOV.UK. Practice Guide 9: Powers of Attorney and Registered Land
9
HM Land Registry. Guidance: Completing Form AP1
10
HM Land Registry. Explaining Easements: Making the Correct Applications
11
GOV.UK. HM Land Registry: Registration Services Fees
12
HM Land Registry. AP1 Form
13
GOV.UK. Practice Guide 82: Electronic Signatures Accepted by HM Land Registry
14
GOV.UK. HM Land Registry Address for Applications
15
GOV.UK. HM Land Registry: Business Gateway
16
GOV.UK. HM Land Registry: Processing Times