Hardrof is a private limited company. lt owns the Manors of Wakefield, Conisbrough, Barnsley and Wales (together with all sub-manors) in West Riding of Yorkshire ("the Manors"). The Manors were previously owned by the Earl of Yarborough's family, and before that by the Duke of Leeds. Whilst a "manor' is now a largely defunct concept, the owner of a manor also owns the rights attached to those manors. Such rights can include mines and minerals and sporting rights. Reference to Hardrof in these FAQs also includes its predecessors in title.
The Land Registration Act 2002 changed the law relating to manorial rights and interests so that their current protected status will be lost after October 2013 unless owners seek to register or otherwise protect them at Land Registry. Manorial rights and interests include (amongst others) mineral rights, sporting rights and market rights. These changes prompted many owners of manorial titles to review what rights may be attached to their manors. Hardrof has undertaken significant detailed research into the rights attached to the Manors, and found that the minerals under large areas of former common land within the Manors were reserved to the lord of the manor when that land was "inclosed" (a process by which large open tracts of land were parcelled up and allotted to local landowners). lnclosure occurred across England and Wales throughout the late 18th century until the mid-19th century. The lord of the manors ownership of minerals was often confirmed in the relevant Act enabling the inclosure to proceed. This is the case with regard to Hardrofs minerals.
Hardrof has engaged professional researchers to investigate and report upon all of its manorial interests, on a manor by manor basis. This involves the researchers visiting local records offices and obtaining information from places such as the National Archives as well as consulting Hardrofs own extensive records. Several weeks of research are devoted to each report. When reports are concluded, any interests identified are professionally mapped using cutting-edge digital mapping technology and then the report and plans are sent to us for review and for ownership to be confirmed. After review by us, an application is made to Land Registry for the registration of the identfied interests, lf approved, Land Registry will register the minerals in the same way they register surface land.
ln the case of the application affecting your property, Hardrof has applied to substantively register the minerals beneath your property, because these interests are attached to one of the Manors. You have received this Notice because Land Registry wishes to advise you that Hardrof is claiming ownership of the mineral rights beneath your property and it may not already be apparent from your title register that these rights do not belong to you.
You have received a Notice because Land Registry wishes to advise you that Hardrof is claiming ownership of the minerals beneath your property and it may not already be apparent from your title register that these rights do not belong to you. Your neighbour may not have received a Notice from Land Registry because their title may already exclude minerals, and therefore Land Registry can see that their title is not affected and so there is no need to advise them of the application.
Whilst Hardrof owns the minerals beneath large areas of land, there are many other constraints on extracting minerals, such as the need for planning permission and environmental issues. Hardrof is not a mining company, and whilst we are not able to say extraction will never be considered, we can reiterate that the reason for the registration exercise is simply as a reaction to a change in the law, and not as a prelude to mineral extraction. ln any event, Hardrof is only registering assets it already owns, and so the position as to the potential for mineral extraction is not changing.
An exclusion of minerals from a title to land is not uncommon and solicitors are used to seeing such exceptions when buying and selling land and houses for clients. There is no evidence to suggest that having a registered minerals title beneath a property will devalue it or make it harder to sell or remortgage.
We have a duty of confidentiality to all of our clients, and so we are not able to tell one client about the actions of another. The applications invariably affect several hundred separate properties and the information provided to us on which the applications to Land Registry are made does not enable us to identify specific properties. Accordingly, we are not able to know whether or not other clients' properly titles are affected. lf you are a client of MUCKLE LLP and you have received a Notice, please call or write to your main contact with the firm, and we will aim to provide whatever information and guidance we can, within the confines of our professional Code of Conduct.
Hardrof has established a dedicated website, which includes an introductory video, plans and copy documentation, to enable you and / or your solicitor to find documentary evidence demonstrating Hardrofs ownership of the minerals. Please visit the relevant area of this website. You will need to click on tab for the relevant page and enter your password. The website also contains a contact form so that any further queries can be directed to the relevant person who will respond by email as soon as possible. lf after visiting Hardrofs website you remain in any doubt as to the effect of the registration exercise on your property, you ought to consult your own solicitor.