How do I remove an equitable charge?

There are equitable charges created by interim and final county court charging orders dated 2006 (i.e. 18 years ago) in the charges register of the title register of my client's house.  I believe they relate to some unpaid water bills.  How do I cancel/remove these very old entries?

Matthew - they will have been entered as Agreed Notices so to cancel a notice (other than a unilateral notice), you must lodge a Form CN1 together with certified copies of the appropriate evidence that the interest has come to an end. We cannot confirm in advance of you making an application what evidence you should lodge. Please send us certified copies of the documents you have and we will consider them.

The form required to remove a unilateral notice from the register depends on who is making the application:

• The registered owner of the property to which the notice applies may apply to cancel a unilateral notice using form UN4
• The beneficiary of a unilateral notice should apply to remove it using form UN2

There is no fee payable for these types of applications.

Please send your completed application form to:
HM Land Registry address for applications.

Please see Practice Guide 19: notice, restrictions and the protection of third party interests in the register for further information.

Thanks, Adam.  But how can I tell whether they were agreed notices or unilateral notices?  What is meant by 'agreed' ?  My client didn't agree to them.  In other words, as the owner of the house who is trying to remove these very old equitable charges, it's not clear whether we should be using a CN1 or a UN4.

Looking at your Practice Guide 19, it looks as though the notices are in the format of agreed notices, rather than unilateral, because they don't specify the beneficiary.  So, as you say, we have to use a CN1.  Am I right that we therefore need a letter from the chargee (a water company) confirming that the debt is no longer owed?