Section 72 — Land Registration Act 2002: Priority protection

Priority protection 72 1 For the purposes of this section, an application for an entry in the register is protected if—

a it is one to which a priority period relates, and b it is made before the end of that period.

2 Where an application for an entry in the register is protected, any entry made in the register during the priority period relating to the application is postponed to any entry made in pursuance of it.

3 Subsection (2) does not apply if—

a the earlier entry was made in pursuance of a protected application, and b the priority period relating to that application ranks ahead of the one relating to the application for the other entry.

4 Subsection (2) does not apply if the earlier entry is one to which a direction under section 46(3) applies.

5 The registrar may defer dealing with an application for an entry in the register if it appears to him that subsection (2) might apply to the entry were he to make it.

6 Rules may—

a make provision for priority periods in connection with—

i official searches of the register, including searches of pending applications for first registration, or ii the noting in the register of a contract for the making of a registrable disposition of a registered estate or charge;

b make provision for the keeping of records in relation to priority periods and the inspection of such records.

7 Rules under subsection (6)(a) may, in particular, make provision about—

a the commencement and length of a priority period, b the applications for registration to which such a period relates, c the order in which competing priority periods rank, and d the application of subsections (2) and (3) in cases where more than one priority period relates to the same application.