Once properties/land etc has been registered with land registry, the importance of the deeds becomes minor.
In the case of the house, when I bought it, it had been in the same family for a long time and was unreigistered, so all the deeds and associated maps etc were still of significant legal importance, and had to be passed on to me, but if I were to sell now, the main proof of ownership would be what is registered with the land registry.
For this reason, it is well worth checking exactly what has been registered, particularly with the way land has been carved up into different parcels these days.
On a slight aside, the government are indeed planning on selling off the land registry, regardless of the fact that it is actually a profitable enterprise contributing about £100 m a year to the coffers.
No doubt it will be sold for a fraction of its value to some foreign domiciled company and we will be held to ransome for its services which will no doubt deteriorate significantly.
