HM Land Registry has opened two consultations on widening access to land ownership information and changing how some registration fees are calculated. The proposals could alter the cost and availability of information used by property businesses, researchers, public bodies and individuals involved in land transactions. Both consultations remain open until 22 December 2026; any changes will follow consideration of the responses.
One consultation proposes an ownership dataset covering the vast majority of land in England and Wales. Under the suggested approach, members of the public, businesses and community groups could view mappable ownership information and inspect more detailed titles for qualifying land without the current per-document charge. That broader public access would not generally extend to information about ordinary homeowners, reflecting privacy considerations around residential property.
The distinction between land area and the number of registered titles is central to the proposal. HM Land Registry says most individual titles concern homes, while large non-residential titles account for much of the land itself. The organisation believes it can make significant areas of land more transparent without opening the bulk of private residential records to unrestricted access. The proposed safeguards and the definition of permitted users will determine how that principle operates in practice.
Public bodies could receive cost-free access to information across all title types, including residential records. Researchers pursuing an eligible public-interest purpose, such as academics, regulators and investigative journalists, could obtain broader data under specified conditions. The consultation also considers measures for responsible publication and possible restrictions where disclosure presents a significant risk of harm. Data availability, security and commercial use therefore form part of the same policy debate.
At present, title documents are generally purchased individually, with many costing £7 as PDFs. Ownership information for the minority of titles registered to corporate bodies is already available in bulk. Moving towards broader machine-readable access could reduce transaction friction for organisations carrying out searches on multiple sites. It may also require property technology businesses to reconsider services built around assembling records that are currently inconvenient to obtain.
The second consultation addresses the fee structure, particularly Scale Two transactions. These include some transfers for no consideration or less than market value and certain mortgage registrations. Fees are currently related to the value of the property, which can be difficult to determine in some circumstances. HM Land Registry proposes replacing the relevant Scale Two arrangement with fixed fees, intended to make charges more predictable and reduce questions during applications.
For conveyancers and lenders, predictability can matter as much as the fee level itself. A transaction delayed because a value has been calculated incorrectly can create administrative work even where the disputed amount is modest. A fixed-fee model could reduce that problem, but the consultation will need to address how costs are distributed between different transaction types and whether some customers pay more as a result.
The ownership-data consultation concerns access to registration information, while the fees exercise concerns charges for particular Land Registry services. The proposed ownership dataset would not generally reveal details of ordinary homeowners. The two consultations are also separate from obligations to disclose certain contractual controls over land. Landowners, developers and lenders will need to consider the eventual data safeguards and changes to transaction costs once the responses have been assessed.
Greater transparency may help assess land assembly, ownership patterns and development opportunities, but availability of data does not establish that records are error-free or that every site can be developed. Planning constraints, covenants, environmental obligations and commercial negotiations remain separate questions. Buyers and lenders will still need professional due diligence, particularly where a title contains complex legal interests not evident from a simple map.
HM Land Registry is inviting responses to both consultations until 22 December. The proposals could allow businesses to identify land ownership without paying for individual title documents in qualifying cases, while altering the charges for selected registration services. The scope of public access, protection of personal information and revised fee levels will be determined after consultation.
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