How do I read the results of a company property search?
The search returns one row for each registered title recorded in the searched name. Each row carries the fields HM Land Registry publishes in its ownership data: the title number, the tenure, the property address as recorded, the proprietor name and, where the proprietor is a company, its registration number and country of incorporation, together with the date the proprietor was added and any price paid the registry holds. Country of incorporation appears in the overseas dataset only, not in the one covering UK companies.
The list identifies; the register explains. For any title that matters, for a charging order, a lending decision or a claim, the official copy of the register shows the charges ranking ahead of you, any restriction that would stop a disposition, and any notice protecting someone else's interest. The table sets out what each field tells you and what to check before you rely on it.
| Field | What it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Title number | The unique reference for the registered title | Pull the official copy for any title you intend to rely on |
| Tenure | Freehold or leasehold | A leasehold title may have few years left and little value; the lease decides |
| Property address | The description as recorded at registration | Older descriptions can be vague; the title plan shows the extent |
| Proprietor name | The exact registered name at the time of registration | A former name means the company has changed name since; a near-match may be a different company |
| Company registration number | The Companies House number, where recorded | Confirms the entity; absent on older registrations, so a name match alone needs care |
| Country of incorporation | Where the proprietor company is registered | An overseas entity must hold a valid Overseas Entity ID before HM Land Registry will register a transfer, a lease of more than seven years or a charge it grants |
| Date proprietor added | When the company became registered proprietor | A recent date may mean a transfer within a group; an old one may mean the asset has been forgotten |
| Price paid | The consideration on the last transfer, where the registry holds it | A historic figure, not a valuation; absent for gifts, intra-group transfers and older dealings |
| Charges (from the register) | Mortgages and other charges over the title | Anything registered before your interest ranks ahead of it |
| Restrictions and notices (from the register) | Limits on dispositions and third-party interests | A restriction may stop a sale without consent; a notice may protect a competing claim |
Can I find out what property an individual owns?
Not in the same way. HM Land Registry keeps an index of proprietors' names covering both individuals and companies, and the rule splits by subject. Against the name of a corporation aggregate, anyone may apply on form PN1 with no entitlement to show. Against a private individual, only that person themselves may search, or someone who satisfies the registrar that they are interested generally in that person's property, for instance a trustee in bankruptcy or a personal representative, or someone holding a court order authorising it (rule 11(3) of the Land Registration Rules 2003, checked 20 September 2026). There is also no public equivalent of the corporate ownership data for individuals, and the reason is privacy.
What can be done is to work from the property to the owner. Any registered title can be searched by address, and the title register names the proprietor. Where an individual is believed to hold property through a company, the company search is the route, and where they are a director or shareholder, Companies House lists the companies. We tell you at the outset what can and cannot be found, so that the fee is spent on searches that can succeed.
What about property owned by an overseas company?
Overseas companies appear in the results where they are the registered proprietor, and HM Land Registry publishes a separate overseas companies ownership dataset for them. Since the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, an overseas entity that is the registered proprietor of a qualifying estate, meaning a freehold or a lease granted for more than seven years, must be registered on the Register of Overseas Entities at Companies House and disclose its beneficial owners. The register opened on 1 August 2022 and entities already holding land on an application made on or after 1 January 1999 had until 31 January 2023 to comply. HM Land Registry enters a restriction that stops a transfer, a lease of more than seven years or a charge being registered unless one of the exceptions in paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 4A to the Land Registration Act 2002 applies. Making a disposition in breach is a criminal offence for the entity and every officer in default, punishable on indictment by up to five years, and although paragraph 6(3) preserves the validity of the deed itself the buyer is left unable to register and holding an equitable interest only (checked 20 September 2026).
That register is the way to find out who stands behind an overseas owner. Where the results show an overseas proprietor, we check the Register of Overseas Entities alongside, note whether the title carries the restriction, and say what that means for any claim or transaction you have in mind.