How to Complete Form TP1: Panels, Plan, and Mercury Signatures

To complete Form TP1, you fill in each numbered panel using the details exactly as they appear on the register, attach a plan that identifies the land being transferred, execute the form as a deed in front of a witness, and submit it to HM Land Registry with Form AP1, the registration fee, and any supporting documents such as Form DS3 or Form ID1. TP1 is the transfer deed used when you are moving only part of a registered title — a section of garden, a building plot carved from a larger holding, a farm split into parcels — rather than the whole estate.¹

If you are transferring the entire registered title without subdividing it, you need Form TR1 instead.²

What to Have Ready Before You Open the Form

Several pieces of information take days or weeks to obtain, and the form cannot be completed accurately without them. Get these in hand first.

The Title Number and Official Copies

You need the title number of the parent estate — the registered title from which the land is being carved. Order official copies of the register and title plan from HM Land Registry. These give you the registered proprietor’s name in the exact form it appears on the register, disclose any restrictions or charges you will need to deal with, and show the current boundaries against the Ordnance Survey map.

Mortgage Lender Consent (Form DS3)

If the land being transferred is subject to a mortgage, the lender must release that portion from the charge. The lender records the release on Form DS3, which travels with your TP1 and AP1.³ Lenders often want a survey or valuation to confirm the retained land still secures the outstanding balance, and some require part of the sale proceeds to be applied against the mortgage before they will sign. Start the conversation early.

Priority Search (Form OS1)

Apply for an official search using Form OS1 before completion. The search gives a priority period of 30 working days from the date HM Land Registry receives it, and any application lodged within that window takes priority over competing entries.⁴ Aim to apply at least five business days before completion.

Identity Verification (Form ID1)

If either party is acting without a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, that person must complete Form ID1. A solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or notary public in England or Wales witnesses the form and confirms the original identification documents match. Submit the completed ID1 with the application.¹

Working Through the Panels

Download the current version of TP1 from the GOV.UK publications page. The panels are numbered and each asks for a specific piece of information. Leave the date blank until the day of completion.¹

Panel 1: Title Number

Enter the title number of the parent estate. If more than one title is involved in the transaction, list each and note whether it is being transferred as “whole” or “part.” A single TP1 can cover both a whole title and part of another title in this way.⁵

Panel 2: Property

Give the property description and address of the land being transferred.

Panel 3: Date

Leave this blank while the form is being prepared. Insert the date on the day the transaction completes and money (if any) changes hands.

Panel 4: Transferor

Name the transferor using exactly the wording shown on the register. Even a missing middle name or a spelling variant will trigger a requisition and pause the application.⁶

Panels 5 and 6: Parties

Panel 5 lists every registered proprietor who is transferring the land; every one of them must be named. Panel 6 identifies the transferee or transferees receiving the land, in full.¹

Panel 9: Consideration

Tick one of three options: the transfer is not for money or anything of monetary value (a gift); the transferee has not paid money but there is other consideration such as the release of a debt; or the transferee has paid a stated sum. For a straightforward sale, choose the third and enter the exact purchase price. The stated consideration drives both the Stamp Duty Land Tax liability and the Land Registry fee band.⁵

Panel 12: Additional Provisions

Panel 12 is where the drafting sits. Use it for rights granted to the buyer (a right of way over the retained land, for example), rights reserved by the seller (such as a right to run services under the transferred land), restrictive covenants, definitions, boundary maintenance obligations, and anything else the parties have agreed. The subheadings printed on the form are suggestions; you can add, amend, reposition, or remove them. Any land affected by rights or covenants should be defined by reference to the plan.¹ These provisions bind future owners and are difficult to change once registered, so treat them carefully. Practice Guide 62 gives detailed guidance on drafting easement clauses if you are working without a solicitor.

The Plan

Every TP1 must be accompanied by a plan that identifies the land being transferred precisely enough for HM Land Registry to locate it on the Ordnance Survey map. Non-compliant plans are the most common reason applications are rejected outright or held on requisition.⁷

Draw the plan to a stated scale (1:1250 or 1:500 for urban land, 1:2500 for rural), and include a bar scale.
Show a north point.
Edge the transferred land clearly, typically in red, without obscuring underlying detail.
Include enough surrounding roads, junctions, and landmarks for the land to be located in its wider setting.
Where a boundary has no physical feature on the ground, give measurements in metres to two decimal places.
Show buildings in their correct position and mark any access drives or paths that form part of a boundary.
Show every colour referred to in the deed and define each area’s extent.

The transferor signs the plan. If the deed contains more than one plan (extent, easement route, and so on), the transferor signs each of them.⁷

To record who maintains a particular boundary feature, use a T-mark on the plan pointing into the responsible owner’s land, and add a clause in Panel 12 that refers to it. A T-mark on its own carries no legal weight unless the deed text picks it up.⁸

Signing It as a Deed

A completed TP1 is a deed, and three elements have to be present: signature, attestation by a witness, and delivery (the intention to be legally bound).⁹

Each individual signs in the execution block using the prescribed wording: “Signed as a deed by [full name] in the presence of.” The witness signs immediately below, printing their full name in block capitals and giving their address with postcode. HM Land Registry insists on complete, legible witness details because the witness may need to be contacted later.⁹

The witness has to be physically present when the person signs. A party to the deed cannot witness another party’s signature. A spouse or civil partner who is not a party can technically act as witness, but HM Land Registry advises against it. One person may witness several signatures, but each signature needs its own attestation unless the wording expressly states the witness saw all signatories sign.

Mercury Signatures

HM Land Registry accepts “Mercury signatures” as an alternative. The conveyancer emails the final agreed deed to each party, each party prints only the signature page and signs it in the physical presence of a witness, and the signed page is emailed back. All parties must be represented by a conveyancer for Mercury signing to be accepted.¹⁰ If any party is unrepresented, the deed has to be signed in the conventional way: wet ink on the full physical document.

Lodging the Application

The executed TP1 does not register anything on its own. You lodge it with HM Land Registry using Form AP1 (application to change the register), completing Panel 3 of the AP1 as “part.”¹¹ The package typically includes:

The executed Form TP1 with signed plan(s) attached.
Form AP1.
The SDLT5 certificate confirming the Land Transaction Return has been filed (or the LTT equivalent in Wales), where the transfer is for consideration. The return must be filed and any tax paid within 14 days of completion, and a return is required even when no tax is due because the consideration falls below the threshold. A genuine gift with no mortgage assumption does not attract SDLT.¹²
Form DS3, if a mortgage is being released from the transferred land.
Form ID1 for any party not represented by a conveyancer.
The registration fee.

Fees are set by the Land Registration Fee Order 2024 and are calculated on the consideration paid, or on the property value where there is none. Transfers of part are charged at the full Scale 1 rate; they do not qualify for the reduced portal fees available on whole-title transfers, whether you submit by post or through the portal.¹³

Up to £80,000: £45
£80,001 to £100,000: £95
£100,001 to £200,000: £230
£200,001 to £500,000: £330
£500,001 to £1,000,000: £655
£1,000,001 and over: £1,105

Use the fee calculator on the HM Land Registry website if the band is unclear, and use the VAT-inclusive consideration when assessing fees.¹³

Requisitions to Avoid

HM Land Registry raises requisitions on a significant proportion of applications, and each one pauses the file until you respond. If you don’t reply within the time allowed, the application is cancelled. The most common problems are avoidable with a check against the register before you sign.⁶

Names on the transfer that do not exactly match the register, including missing middle names or spelling variants.
Missing witness signatures, incomplete witness details, or a witness who is also a party.
DS3 missing, incomplete, or not matching the charge shown on the register.
Plans without a stated scale or north point, edging so thick the extent is ambiguous, or too little surrounding detail to locate the land on the OS map.
A restriction on the register (a requirement for a second trustee’s consent, for example) that has not been complied with.
Form ID1 missing for an unrepresented party.

Once HM Land Registry processes the application, it creates a new title number for the transferred land and updates the parent title to remove that portion. The buyer receives official copies of the new register and title plan; the seller’s register is amended to reflect the retained area. From that point the new title is fully independent and can be mortgaged, sold, or further subdivided on its own.

1
HM Land Registry. Registered Titles: Part Transfer (TP1)
2
GOV.UK. Guidance: How to Complete Form TR1
3
GOV.UK. Mortgage: Release of Part of the Land for Lenders (DS3)
4
GOV.UK. Practice Guide 12: Official Searches
5
GOV.UK. Practice Guide 21: Using Our Forms for Complex and More Unusual Transactions
6
GOV.UK. HM Land Registry Requisitions
7
GOV.UK. Guidance for Preparing Plans for HM Land Registry Applications
8
HM Land Registry. Drawing the Line on Boundaries
9
GOV.UK. Practice Guide 8: Execution of Deeds
10
GOV.UK. Practice Guide 82: Electronic Signatures Accepted by HM Land Registry
11
GOV.UK. Change the Register (AP1)
12
GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Residential Property Rates
13
GOV.UK. HM Land Registry: Registration Services Fees