If you're looking for information about land or property in England or Wales, you'll probably want to explore HM Land Registry land and property records. You may not realise, however, that there are several private companies who re-sell our information for significantly higher prices.
We often get contacted by people who have bought a title register or title plan from one of these resellers but think they've been dealing with us. They are surprised to learn that they could have bought the records much more cheaply, directly from us (from as little as £3).
I witnessed this unwitting choice during a user testing session. Members of the public were presented with a web browser and asked to find our homepage. Many people clicked on the first search result they saw with the words "Land Registry" in the title and assumed they were on the right website.
The problem with this approach is that the first few results in search engines, such as Google or Bing, are paid advertisements and will not lead to GOV.UK or our services.
Don't pay too much
To avoid paying more than you need to for our services:
- always start on GOV.UK, the official home of government information and services;
- look out for the word "Ad" if you're using a search engine, as these are adverts for third-party services;
- look out for disclaimer statements in website banners and footers; and
- check for "gov.uk" in the domain name (website address), as only government departments can legally use this.
Making it clear who's who
Private companies cannot confuse the public into thinking they are transacting with us and are not entitled to use "Land Registry" in their domain name. We're aware that some sites use variations to try to get around this and are exploring what we can do to stop them.
If you think you've been misled by a website, please contact us. We keep a log and may take action. Our previous actions have resulted in changes being made to some websites and two others being closed down by the UK internet governing body for infringing the use of our name.
If you think an advert is misleading, you can report it to the Advertising Standards Authority.
If you think you have been misled into buying goods or services, you can report it to Trading Standards.
5 comments
Comment by Karl posted on
I think this will be the wrong thread but can anyone help? We are buying a property. Cash buyers. There is an outstanding TP1 matter. All parties agree and there’s no dispute. It’s be lodged with Land Registry. Unfortunately average turnaround is 63 days and the matter has lodged just as we’re about to Exchange. Is there a risk to Exchange and Complete, if Vendors add a best endeavours clause to contract.
Comment by AdamH posted on
Karl - one your solicitor will have to advise you on I'm afraid as we can't advise oyu on riskjs re exchange/completion. If they decide it is a risk then they need to ask the solicitor who submitted the TP1 to contact us with details re the linked transaction and the need for speed so to speak. We can then consider that request and expedite the process where possible.
Comment by Lars Janssen posted on
What's happened to the Land Registry search page? My account has been deleted and I can't find a link to register for a new one anymore.
Is the "real" Land Registry service no longer available to the public?
Comment by ianflowers posted on
Lars - Sorry to hear this. If you're searching here: https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/QuickEnquiryInit.do?_ga=2.27963708.183164719.1540722270-1975037404.1487868901 then enter your search and get your result. Once you've clicked 'buy' then it will prompt you to login or create an account. Any further problems please contact us: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/contact-hm-land-registry.
Comment by Gaylord Philpott posted on
Great info, thanks for the share!