DS1 form: how a paid-off mortgage comes off the register

DS1 form at a glance

Get the form itself from HM Land Registry: Form DS1 on GOV.UK (version dated 17 June 2019). We explain it here; we do not reproduce it.

What does a DS1 say, panel by panel?

The DS1 has eight panels on its first page, with warnings on the second. Your lender fills it in, not you, but it helps to know what each panel means if you are checking one you have been sent.

The form also warns that giving false information on it can be fraud. To avoid queries, HM Land Registry asks conveyancers to check the clerical details closely: the charge date, the property description, the title number and the lender’s full name.

Who signs a DS1, and does it need a witness?

The lender signs, because the DS1 is the lender’s statement that your home is no longer security for the loan. It must be signed as a deed. If there is more than one lender, every one of them signs.

• A bank or building society signs under its own rules. A lender that signs many discharges can have a special arrangement with HM Land Registry (a “facility letter”) that sets how its DS1s are signed. Its date goes in panel 7.
• A company signs by two directors, a director and the secretary, or one director whose signature is witnessed.
• A private person (a parent, a former partner, an investor) signs it as a deed in front of a witness, who also signs and adds their name and address. HM Land Registry also needs evidence of the lender’s identity, unless a conveyancer acts for them or the person sending the application can confirm who they are.
• An attorney signing for the lender: no identity evidence is needed for the attorney.

You never sign the DS1 yourself.

Is a DS1 still used, or do lenders clear mortgages online now?

A paper DS1 is not the only way. Lenders can also send the discharge electronically, and the lender’s redemption statement says which method it will use. With an electronic method the lender sends the discharge straight to HM Land Registry, and nobody posts you a form. A paper DS1 can take longer, because HM Land Registry runs extra fraud checks on it.

Source: HM Land Registry practice guide 31 (sections 2, 5, 6 and 7), the DS1 and DS3 form pages, and the e-DS1 portal guide.

HM Land Registry says about 30% of applications to update the register, including removing a mortgage, are automated and done within minutes (processing times page, updated 22 September 2026). An application is protected from the day HM Land Registry receives it, if it is in order, however long it takes to complete.

What happens to the DS1 when you sell your home?

We ask your lender for a redemption statement, which shows exactly what is needed to pay the mortgage off on completion day. When the buyer’s money arrives, we repay your lender and send you the balance, after any payments you have agreed we make from it.

The buyer’s conveyancer needs to know the mortgage will go. So the seller’s conveyancer usually gives a written promise, called an undertaking, to repay the lender and send proof of the discharge. If the lender uses an electronic method, the two conveyancers agree a version of that promise to suit it.

After completion, the buyer’s conveyancer sends the transfer to HM Land Registry with form AP1, including the discharge. If the lender is sending it electronically, the AP1 says so. If the DS1 has not arrived, HM Land Registry registers the buyer and their new mortgage and rejects only the discharge part. The DS1 is then sent on its own later. The exception is where the seller’s lender also has a restriction on the register that blocks the transfer: then HM Land Registry asks for evidence of the discharge, and if it is not produced it can cancel the buyer’s applications too.

If your lender has a restriction on the register that does not mention this mortgage, it is not removed automatically. It needs a separate form RX4 from the lender.

Remortgaging: when does the old mortgage leave the title?

On a remortgage we ask your current lender for a redemption figure when we check your title. On completion day the new loan reaches us, we clear the old mortgage and send you any money left over. Then we register the new mortgage at HM Land Registry and the old one is taken off the title.

If your old lender discharges electronically, there is no DS1 to wait for. If it sends a paper DS1, it goes in with the application to register the new mortgage. More on remortgage conveyancing.

I paid off my mortgage years ago. Why does the register still show it?

Paying off the loan does not by itself change the register. The lender has to send HM Land Registry a discharge. Until it does, the mortgage stays on the register.

1. Check the register. A copy of your title register shows any mortgage still entered, with its date and lender. You can get one from GOV.UK for a government fee (separate from ours).
2. Ask the lender. Ask whether it has sent an electronic discharge. If not, ask for a signed DS1.
3. Send it in. Send the DS1 with form DS2, which is the owner’s application to cancel the mortgage entries. If no conveyancer is acting for you, you fill in the identity panel on the DS2 and give evidence of your identity. There is no fee.

Old paperwork: a “charge certificate” has no legal effect now, and HM Land Registry has not accepted one for removing a mortgage since 12 October 2003. Do not send it in: HM Land Registry may destroy it.

If the lender has a restriction on the register as well, ask whether its discharge covers it. If not, it also needs form RX4.

Paying off part of the land, or a loan from family: which form then?

• Part of the land: if a mortgage is being lifted from only part of your title, for example a strip of garden you are selling, the lender uses form DS3, not DS1. The part must be shown on a plan signed by the lender, or by reference to the title plan.
• A loan from a person, not a bank: a family member, former partner or private investor who lent against your home signs a paper DS1 as a deed in front of a witness, who also signs and adds their name and address. E-DS1 is open only to corporate lenders. HM Land Registry also needs evidence of the private lender’s identity, unless a conveyancer acts for them.
• More than one mortgage: each mortgage on the title needs its own discharge.
• Help to Buy equity loan: see repaying a Help to Buy equity loan.

Does a DS1 work any differently in Wales?

No. HM Land Registry keeps the register for England and Wales, so the same DS1, DS2 and DS3 apply, along with the same electronic methods and the same nil fee. Each form has a Welsh-language version (DS1w, DS2w, DS3w), with the same date as the English one. What differs in Wales is the tax on a purchase (Land Transaction Tax, not Stamp Duty), which the buyer pays and which does not touch the seller’s discharge.

How many sellers who asked us for a quote had a mortgage to clear?

Our quote form asks every seller whether there is a mortgage to pay off. About half say yes, whether they are selling alone or selling and buying.

Website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026. Totals only.

What do we charge to clear a mortgage when you sell or remortgage?

On a sale, our fees cover our legal fee and these fees: File Opening Fee (Non-refundable), Telegraphic Transfer Fee (Per Transfer) and Mortgage Redemption Fee. With no mortgage to pay off, the Mortgage Redemption Fee is not charged.

On a remortgage, our fees cover our legal fee and these fees: Telegraphic Transfer Fee (Per Transfer), Redeeming your existing loan and Lender Portal Management Fee.

HM Land Registry charges no fee to remove a paid-off mortgage. We give you a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.

What happens next

• AP1: registering the sale after completion
• Selling a house: what happens to your mortgage
• Remortgage conveyancing with us
• More conveyancing forms, explained