Commentary on the Sections Relative priority Section 50: Overriding statutory charges: duty of notification
97.There are numerous statutory provisions which permit or require the creation of statutory charges. These statutory charges when they arise are often given priority to existing charges by the legislation under which they take effect, and will take priority over further advances made by existing chargees even though details of the statutory charge do not appear in the register. Section 50 imposes a new duty on the registrar to notify such persons as are set out in rules (likely to be chargees whose interests are protected in the register) of statutory charges being entered in the register which have priority to existing registered charges. Previously no notice would have been given to those chargees as the entry of the details of the statutory charge into the register does not change the priority order that existed before the entry was made. The new duty will, for example, enable a chargee to make an informed decision as to whether or not he should make further advances to a chargor on the security of an existing charge where the security had been eroded because of a statutory charge.