Land Registry title deeds: where yours are, how to get a copy and how to read it

Title deeds at a glance

Which Land Registry document do you need?

Fees set by HM Land Registry, in force from 9 December 2024. Checked 29 October 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: HM Land Registry.

Does HM Land Registry still keep paper title deeds?

For most homes, no. Once a property is registered, the register is the record of who owns it. If the register names you as owner, the law treats you as the legal owner because of that entry. Old paper deeds no longer prove it.

Since 13 October 2003, HM Land Registry has not issued land certificates or charge certificates. If you have an old certificate in a drawer, it has no legal effect now.

What happens to paper deeds sent in with an application? When a conveyancer sends original deeds with a first registration, HM Land Registry scans them and normally sends them straight back. So your old bundle may be with you, with the conveyancer who acted when you bought, or no longer exist. For a registered home, that does not stop you selling.

How do you get a copy of your title deeds?

1. Go to GOV.UK, “Search for land and property information”. You need to sign in, and a debit or credit card to download.
2. Search by address or postcode. The property summary is free. It shows the address, the tenure (freehold or leasehold) and whether there are covenants or rights, but not what they say.
3. Download the title register, the title plan, or both. Each has a fee set by HM Land Registry.
4. If the register refers to a document you want to read, such as a lease or a conveyance with covenants, order it on form OC2.
5. If you need a copy that counts as evidence, order an official copy on form OC1. The public cannot download official copies: they come by post, £11 each.

The service covers England and Wales only. Scotland has the Registers of Scotland and Northern Ireland has Land & Property Services.

HM Land Registry warns that some private websites repackage its information, and people can end up paying more than they would on GOV.UK. It advises starting on GOV.UK.

What does each section of a title register tell you?

Every register has a title number and up to three sections. This is a made-up register for a made-up house (title number XX000000, owners Sam Example and Alex Example, lender Example Bank PLC), with a note on what each part means.

A: Property register

What and where: the address, freehold or leasehold, and rights the property has, such as a right of way over a neighbour’s drive. On a leasehold flat this section names the lease: its date, its length and the parties. Rights that benefit you are here. Rights others have over your land are in section C.

B: Proprietorship register

Who: the class of title (below), the owners’ names and their addresses for letters from HM Land Registry. It sometimes shows the price paid. Restrictions sit here too. A restriction stops HM Land Registry registering a sale or mortgage until a condition is met, such as a certificate or someone’s consent. If two or more of you own it, check the wording here. It tells the next buyer’s conveyancer how a sale must be signed. More on joint tenants or tenants in common.

C: Charges register

What weighs on it: mortgages, and rights or covenants that limit what can be done with the land. Not every register has a section C. A mortgage you have paid off can stay here until the lender’s discharge (form DS1) is registered.

In 138 of the 284 sale quote requests we received, the seller had a mortgage to pay off, which will be in section C (website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026).

Source: GOV.UK, How to read a title register.

What does the red line on a title plan actually prove?

Less than most people think. The red edging shows the extent of the registered land. It is not the exact legal boundary. The law calls it a “general boundary”, and it does not fix the exact line, unless the boundary has been formally determined, which is rare. HM Land Registry says not to scale a measurement up from the plan, and it does not redraw the plan each time the Ordnance Survey map changes.

So a title plan helps you check that you own the garden and the drive. It will not settle where a fence should sit to the centimetre. A plan with no marks on it does not mean the land is free of rights or covenants either: those are in the register.

Absolute, possessory or good leasehold: what does the class of title mean?

HM Land Registry gives every title a class when it is first registered, based on the evidence of ownership. Absolute freehold and absolute leasehold are the strongest and most common.

Upgrading a title is an application to HM Land Registry, with its own fee: £40 per title by post.

What if the property is not on the register at all?

Some land in England and Wales has never been registered, usually because it has not been sold or mortgaged for a long time. Then the paper deeds are the proof of ownership, and keeping them safe matters.

To check, search for the address on GOV.UK. If it does not come up, ask HM Land Registry for a search of the index map (form SIM, £8).

Registration becomes compulsory on certain events: a sale, a gift, a transfer under a court order, an assent by executors or administrators, a new lease of more than seven years, or a first legal mortgage of the land. Mortgaging land is not a change of owner, but it still counts. The application must be made within two months (HM Land Registry can extend this for a good reason).

If the deeds are lost, the land can still be registered, but the evidence has to come from somewhere else. The class of title may then be possessory (above). You can also register voluntarily before you sell, at a reduced fee: see the Land Registry fee calculator. The same rules apply in Wales.

Is a downloaded copy the same as an official copy?

No. The copy you download on GOV.UK shows the register as it stands, which is enough to check the owner and the mortgage. An official copy is the version the law accepts as evidence “to the same extent as the original”. Courts, and sometimes banks, ask for one.

The public orders official copies on form OC1 (register or plan) or OC2 (a document), by post, £11 each. Conveyancers order them through HM Land Registry’s portal. On a sale, our disbursements include official copies of your title.

Can you see who owned a house before, or what they paid?

Sometimes. The current register sometimes shows the price the owner paid. For earlier owners, HM Land Registry can supply a historical edition of the register on form HC1, but only where it holds that edition electronically.

If a document named on the register is what you need, such as an old conveyance setting out a covenant, form OC2 gets a copy if HM Land Registry kept it. If it did not, the register says so, and the next place to look is whoever holds the old paper deeds.

How can you stop someone selling or mortgaging your home behind your back?

HM Land Registry offers two free protections and one paid one.

• Property Alert: an email when there is certain activity on the title of a property you watch, such as an application or an official search, up to 10 properties. It warns you. It does not block anything.
• A restriction for owners who do not live there: form RQ for people, RQCO for companies. HM Land Registry will then not register a sale or mortgage unless a conveyancer certifies that the person applying is really you. There is no fee.
• A restriction for owners who live there: form RX1, £40 by post.

GOV.UK says you may be more at risk if your identity has been stolen, you rent the property out, you live abroad, or the property is empty, has no mortgage or is not registered.

What changes on the register when you sell, add someone, or an owner dies?

60 of the 143 sale-only quote requests we received were from two or more owners (website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026). Every one of them signs the transfer.

Is anything different for a title in Wales?

Very little. HM Land Registry keeps one register for England and Wales, with the same documents, forms and fees. Registers for land in Wales are printed on a bilingual template, entries are made in the language of the source document, and Welsh addresses can be entered. You can deal with HM Land Registry in Welsh.

The tax is what differs. After a purchase in Wales, HM Land Registry needs the Welsh Revenue Authority’s certificate that the Land Transaction Tax return was made, not HMRC’s Stamp Duty certificate. Work out the tax with our Land Transaction Tax calculator.

43 of the 670 purchase quote requests we received were for a home in Wales (website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026).

What do we check on your title, and what does it cost?

On a sale, we can get your title from HM Land Registry and send you the property forms straight away. On a remortgage, we check your title and any restrictions on it, and confirm to your new lender that the title is in order. On a change of owners, we read the title register to confirm the current owners, the mortgage and anything that limits a transfer.

Our published fees for a sale, a purchase and a remortgage are in the box below. For adding or removing an owner, we give you a written, itemised quote before you instruct us. HM Land Registry’s fees are government charges and are never added to ours.

What happens next

• Selling your home with us
• Changing who owns your home
• Land Registry fee calculator
• More guides, explained