Property Law Online

Land Registry

Statutory declarations

A formal declared statement of fact, drafted to the standard HM Land Registry accepts, for when the document that should prove something does not exist.

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A statutory declaration is a formal written statement of fact made under the Statutory Declarations Act 1835 and declared before a person authorised to administer oaths. Property Law Online takes the facts, drafts the declaration to the standard HM Land Registry expects, gathers the evidence and arranges the declaration before an authorised person, across England and Wales.

Why instruct us

  • Fee agreed in writing before we start
  • Covering England and Wales

When do you need a statutory declaration?

Where a document is missing or a fact cannot be proved from the record, a properly drafted declaration is frequently what allows a transaction or an HM Land Registry application to proceed. The five uses below are the common ones in property work.

Lost title deeds
Supporting a first registration where the paper deeds of unregistered land cannot be found. HM Land Registry wants to know who held them, when they were last seen and what searches have been made (Practice Guide 2).
Adverse possession
Evidencing factual possession and intention to possess for the required period. Ten years for registered land under Schedule 6 to the Land Registration Act 2002, twelve for unregistered land under section 15 of the Limitation Act 1980, with section 17 extinguishing the old owner's title at the end of it (checked 20 September 2026). There is an older route that still matters: where twelve years had already run against registered land before 13 October 2003, paragraph 18 of Schedule 12 to the 2002 Act preserves the squatter's entitlement under the previous law, and the Schedule 6 procedure does not apply.
Rights of way and long use
Establishing that access, drainage or services have been used openly, without permission and without interruption for the period needed for a prescriptive easement. Under the Prescription Act 1832 that is twenty years for a right of way or drainage, which gives a right that can still be challenged on other grounds, and forty years for one that cannot; a right to light is absolute after twenty years under section 3. The period has to be the one ending with the claim, under section 4, and there are two other routes, common law prescription and lost modern grant, each with its own requirements (checked 20 September 2026).
Name discrepancies
Confirming that "J. Smith" on a 1987 conveyance and "Joanne Smith-Reyes" on today's passport are the same person, where no marriage certificate or change of name deed exists to prove it.
Marital status and occupation
Confirming that no spouse or civil partner has home rights in the property, or that a property has been occupied as described, where a buyer's representative or lender asks for it.
Not right for
Court proceedings, where an affidavit or witness statement is the correct form, or facts you know only because someone told you. A declaration carries weight only for what you saw and did yourself.

What do we do to prepare a statutory declaration?

One fixed fee covers taking the facts, drafting, gathering the evidence and arranging the declaration. The small statutory fee charged by the person who administers it is paid to them and shown separately.

  • Taking the facts

    A structured interview, by phone or video, to establish what you know first-hand, how you know it, and when. Only facts within your own knowledge go in.

  • Gathering supporting evidence

    Photographs, invoices, historic mapping, utility bills, council tax records and, on significant claims, corroborating declarations from neighbours or family.

  • Drafting

    Specific, dated, in the first person, with exhibits numbered and referred to. Written to the evidential standard in the relevant HM Land Registry practice guide, not a template.

  • Choosing the right instrument

    HM Land Registry now accepts a statement of truth in place of a statutory declaration for many applications, form ST1 for adverse possession, ST3 for lost deeds, which does not need to be sworn at all (Practice Guide 73, updated 9 December 2024, checked 20 September 2026). For unregistered land, ST1 goes in with a first registration application on form FR1 (Practice Guide 5). We tell you which applies.

  • Arranging the declaration

    Where a declaration is actually needed, booking an appointment with a person authorised to administer oaths who is independent of the matter, such as a conveyancer or solicitor at another practice or a notary public, and telling you what to bring.

  • Lodging it

    Submitted with the HM Land Registry application, or handed to the other side's conveyancer, with a copy sent to you.

What does a statutory declaration cost?

Property Law Online is not yet taking instructions, so there is no fee to quote today. This section explains how the cost of this work is usually made up.

A statutory declaration is quoted as one fixed fee before you instruct us, in writing, with our fee shown separately from the statutory fee paid to the person who administers it. Tell us what it is for and how many people need to declare, and we reply by email.

Usually covered by the professional fee

  • Structured fact-finding interview
  • Evidence gathering and exhibit bundle
  • Drafting to HM Land Registry's evidential standard
  • Arranging the appointment with an authorised person
  • Lodging with the application and dealing with requisitions

Paid to others, passed on at cost

  • The statutory fee charged by the person who administers the declaration, set by the Commissioners for Oaths (Fees) Order 1993 at 5 pounds for each person making the declaration and 2 pounds for each exhibit marked (in force 18 October 1993, checked 20 September 2026)
  • HM Land Registry application fee, set by the fee order, where the declaration supports an application
  • Historic mapping, search fees or copy documents obtained from third parties

What can add to it: corroborating declarations from several neighbours, a long possession history with many exhibits, or an application that draws requisitions. Each is quoted before you instruct, never afterwards.

How is a statutory declaration prepared and sworn?

Four stages. The drafting is where the value sits; the declaring itself takes minutes.

  1. Facts taken

    A structured interview establishes what you know first-hand and where the evidence for it sits. We send a short list of what to look for.

    Days 1 to 2

  2. Evidence gathered and declaration drafted

    Exhibits are collected and numbered, and the declaration is drafted around them. You review it and correct anything that is not exactly right.

    Days 2 to 5

  3. Declared before an authorised person

    You sign in the presence of a commissioner for oaths, a notary or another authorised person who is independent of the matter, and who signs each exhibit. We book the appointment.

    Within a week, subject to appointment

  4. Lodged

    The declaration goes in with the HM Land Registry application or to the other side. If the registrar raises a requisition we deal with it.

    On receipt of the signed declaration

How long does a statutory declaration take?

Usually a few working days from the fact-finding interview to a draft, plus the time to arrange the appointment before an authorised person. Adverse possession and lost-deeds declarations take longer because the evidence has to be found first. HM Land Registry's own processing time follows if the declaration supports an application.

What changes the timescale

  • How quickly the supporting evidence can be found
  • Whether corroborating declarations from others are needed
  • Availability of an authorised person near you
  • Whether HM Land Registry raises requisitions on the application

Statutory declaration, statement of truth or affidavit, which do I need?

All three are formal statements of fact, and the wrong one is rejected. The declaration is the traditional instrument for property matters and is still asked for by many buyers' representatives, lenders and insurers. HM Land Registry, however, will accept a statement of truth under rule 215A of the Land Registration Rules 2003 in place of a statutory declaration, and publishes forms for the common cases: ST1 for adverse possession, with form ADV1 for registered land or form FR1 for unregistered land, ST2 for adverse possession of a rentcharge, ST3 for lost or destroyed deeds, ST4 for prescriptive easements and ST5 for cancelling a joint proprietor restriction (Practice Guide 73, updated 9 December 2024, checked 20 September 2026). A statement of truth is signed by the maker, with their name printed underneath, and needs no witness at all; it does not need to be administered by an authorised person, which removes an appointment and a fee.

An affidavit is sworn evidence for court proceedings. If your matter is heading to court, a boundary dispute, a claim under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the court's rules decide the form, and a declaration prepared for HM Land Registry will not do. Boundary disputes explains where that line falls.

Statutory declarationStatement of truthAffidavit
Governing ruleStatutory Declarations Act 1835Land Registration Rules 2003, rule 215ACivil Procedure Rules
Used forProperty transactions, lenders, insurers, some HM Land Registry applicationsMost HM Land Registry applications (ST1 to ST5 forms)Court proceedings
Who administers itCommissioner for oaths, notary or other authorised personNobody, and no witness is needed eitherCommissioner for oaths or court officer
Statutory feeYes, per declaration and exhibitNoYes
False statementCriminal offence under the Perjury Act 1911Suppressing information to conceal a right or to substantiate a false claim is an offence under section 123 of the Land Registration Act 2002, carrying up to two years on indictment; a dishonest false statement may also be an offence under the Fraud Act 2006Perjury
We prepare itYesYesNo, court work

Who can administer a statutory declaration?

The declaration must be made before a person authorised to administer oaths. Under section 18 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835 that is a justice of the peace, a notary public or another officer authorised by law to administer an oath, and today it means anyone authorised for that reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007. Administering oaths is a reserved legal activity in its own right, defined in Schedule 2 paragraph 8 of that Act as the exercise of the powers of a commissioner for oaths, so a commissioner for oaths and an authorised person are not two different things. Licensed conveyancers are among those who can hold that authorisation, because the Council for Licensed Conveyancers is one of the approved regulators for it under Schedule 4 Part 1 (checked 19 September 2026). The person administering it does not check that the contents are true; they confirm that you declared it before them, on the date shown, and they mark the exhibits. That is why the drafting matters more than the appointment.

We do not administer our own clients' declarations. That is a choice we make rather than a rule imposed on us. We draft, assemble the exhibits, and book the appointment with an authorised person near you who is independent of the matter, because an independent appointment is one less thing for anyone to argue about later. Where a statement of truth will serve, we tell you, because it saves both the appointment and the fee.

What makes a statutory declaration fail?

  • Hearsay

    Stating what someone told you rather than what you saw. Only first-hand knowledge carries weight. Where the knowledge sits with a neighbour or a parent, they make the declaration, not you.

  • Vague dates and legal conclusions

    "For many years" is not evidence; "from the spring of 2009, when we fenced the strip" is. Equally, you state what happened and the registrar decides what it means. A declaration that "I have acquired the land by adverse possession" is overreaching and is likely to be rejected.

  • No corroboration

    A single declaration on a significant claim is rarely enough on its own. HM Land Registry expects supporting documents and, on possession and easement claims, a declaration from someone independent.

  • Declared before the wrong person

    A declaration administered by someone connected to the matter, the firm acting for you, a relative, a party to the transaction, is open to challenge. We book an independent authorised person and never administer our clients' own declarations.

Frequently asked questions

Can I write a statutory declaration myself?

You can, and HM Land Registry does return declarations that fall short. The wording has to meet the evidential standard in the relevant practice guide: first-hand facts, specific dates, exhibits properly referred to. Declarations are returned for hearsay, vagueness or stating a legal conclusion rather than a fact.

What documents do I need for a statutory declaration?

Depends on the purpose. For adverse possession: photographs, fencing or maintenance invoices, council tax or utility records and historic mapping. For lost deeds: anything showing who last held them and what searches were made. For a name discrepancy: both forms of the name on dated documents. We send a list once we know the purpose.

What is the penalty for a false statutory declaration?

Knowingly and wilfully making a false statutory declaration is a criminal offence under section 5 of the Perjury Act 1911, punishable on conviction on indictment by up to two years in prison, or a fine, or both (checked 20 September 2026). It is why we draft only what you know first-hand and ask you to correct anything that is not exactly right before you declare it.

Is a declaration enough on its own for adverse possession?

No. It is the core of the application, but HM Land Registry expects documentary evidence of factual possession throughout the period, and usually a corroborating declaration from a neighbour or previous occupier. Practice Guides 4 and 5 set out what the registrar looks for.

What if the person with the knowledge has died?

Their knowledge cannot be declared by someone else. The application relies instead on documents, old photographs, correspondence, invoices, and on declarations from anyone still living who saw the facts for themselves. We tell you at the outset whether the evidence is likely to be enough.

Can the declaration be signed remotely?

Generally no. The declarant signs in the physical presence of the authorised person, who also signs the exhibits. The Statutory Declarations Act 1835 has never been amended to allow it to be done over a video link, and the temporary video witnessing provisions made during the pandemic applied to wills only and expired on 31 January 2024 (checked 20 September 2026). Where a statement of truth will serve instead, it can be signed at home, with no witness and no appointment.

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Sources and further reading

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