Public Access To Property Ownership Information

A recent press article highlighted a homeowner’s discomfort that information that he felt should be personal and private was freely available to anyone using the internet. Anyone can now access residential and business property information, including the purchase price, through the Land Registry.

In the beginning, there was no such thing as registered titles. We all look with nostalgia at the wonderful old deeds recording conveyances of centuries ago. Many adorn the wall of domestic and commercial properties alike and provide a valuable record of our social and economic history.

The problem with the system however was that it was simply too private. Unless the owner of a piece of land was known locally it was very difficult to find out by any central means, who owned it. Furthermore, if a buyer bought a piece of land and later discovered that it was subject to obligations they were previously unaware of either the party with the benefit of obligation or the new owner would be disadvantaged and disputes were common.

So laws were introduced to register land and property in England and Wales centrally to make the transfer of land ownership simpler and more efficient.

Each register is given an individual title number and contains details of

• the property description
• who owns it
• if owned by more than one party the nature of the co-ownership
• any benefits that come with the land, for example, a right to cross a
• neighbour’s land in order to access a garage or public road
• any matters that bind the land, such as third party rights to use the property’s services. It will also show financial information, such as whether the property is mortgaged and the identity of the mortgagee
• the purchase price of the property

This means the register is a public document. With the increasing use of the internet the information is not only available but often instantly accessible through a property’s postcode.

A quick look at the Land Registry website shows that copies of a property register and the plan accompanying the register are available on-line for £3 each. So if you are selling your home or your business property it is relatively easy to discover what price your neighbour sold for as opposed to the advertised selling price.

There are however, some restrictions. Whilst the Land Registry can, in theory, provide details of all properties owned by an individual or company, they will not respond to an application against an individual name unless the proprietor themselves make the application or there is evidence that the applicant is connected to the person being enquired about. Further, a proprietor can prevent specific information becoming public knowledge if it is deemed to be sensitive in respect of their business interests. A request must be made to the Land Registry to prevent the information forming part of the public register.

In a time of increasing transparency of information in every aspect of life the law of property is keeping pace, whether for better or for worse remains to be seen.

Published 16/08/2007. The author of this article is Julia Green