How do I read a title register?
The register is in three parts. The property register describes the land, says whether it is freehold or leasehold, and lists the rights the property benefits from. The proprietorship register names the owner, gives the class of title and the price paid, and sets out any restriction on how the property can be dealt with. The charges register lists everything that burdens the land: mortgages, restrictive covenants, easements over it, leases granted out of it, and notices protecting other people's interests.
Each entry is numbered and dated, and many refer to a document filed at HM Land Registry or to a colour or hatching on the title plan. The table sets out the entries you will most often meet and what each one means. Where an entry refers to a filed deed, the deed itself is usually needed to know exactly what a covenant or right says.
| Register | Entry | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Property register | Description and tenure | The address and extent of the land, whether freehold or leasehold, and for a lease the date, term and parties |
| Property register | Rights benefiting the land | Easements the property enjoys over other land, a right of way over a shared drive, a right to drainage, a right of support |
| Property register | Exclusions | Mines and minerals, or a strip of land, excepted from the title |
| Proprietorship register | Class of title | Absolute is the norm. On a lease, good leasehold means the registry has accepted the lease but has not approved the landlord's title to grant it. Possessory or qualified title means it has not guaranteed the whole of it. A possessory title can be upgraded to absolute after twelve years under section 62 of the Land Registration Act 2002 (checked 20 September 2026) |
| Proprietorship register | Proprietor | The legal owner or owners, with their address for service; for a company, its registered number |
| Proprietorship register | Price paid | The consideration on the last transfer, entered as a matter of course since 1 April 2000, and a value stated where the consideration was not money (rule 8(2) of the Land Registration Rules 2003 and Practice Guide 7, updated 22 July 2024, checked 20 September 2026) |
| Proprietorship register | Form A restriction | The owners hold as tenants in common; a sole survivor cannot sell without a second trustee. See joint tenants or tenants in common |
| Proprietorship register | Other restrictions | A lender, a management company or a court requires a certificate or consent before a sale or mortgage can be registered |
| Charges register | Registered charge | A mortgage. If it was repaid and never removed, a discharge must be lodged before a sale. See form DS1 |
| Charges register | Restrictive covenants and easements | Promises limiting what can be done on the land, and rights others have over it, often set out in a filed deed |
| Charges register | Notices | A home right, an option, a unilateral notice. Someone else claims an interest that a buyer must deal with before completion |
How does the title plan fit with the register?
Every registered title has a plan, and most questions need the register and the plan together. Entries refer to land "edged red", "tinted brown" or "hatched blue", and those colours mean whatever the entry says they mean. What the plan does not do is fix the exact boundary: under section 60 of the Land Registration Act 2002 it shows a general boundary only (section 60 of the Land Registration Act 2002). How to read the plan, what each marking means and what the plan cannot tell you are covered on our title plan page. Where your question is about land, we order both documents together.
What is the difference between an official copy and a download?
HM Land Registry lets anyone view a register online for a small fee, and the result is a useful summary. It is not an official copy. An official copy is issued by the registry under the Land Registration Rules 2003, bears its official copy stamp and the date and time it was issued, and under section 67 of the Land Registration Act 2002 is admissible in evidence to the same extent as the original. A court, a lender and the Probate Registry will expect the official copy, and GOV.UK says in terms that official copies cannot be downloaded online and have to be sent by post (page updated 9 December 2024, checked 20 September 2026).
The official copy also fixes a moment. Registers change: a new charge, a notice, a restriction lodged the day after you looked. Where the document is going to be relied on, we order the official copy and, where the matter runs on, a priority search to protect the position. HM Land Registry Practice Guide 11 sets out the procedure.
What should I do if something on the register is wrong?
The register can be updated, and most problems are routine. A mortgage repaid years ago but still shown is removed by a discharge. The lender lodges an electronic discharge or we lodge a DS1. A name changed by marriage or deed poll is updated with evidence and an application; see change of name on the register. A restriction that has served its purpose is cancelled or withdrawn by application on the appropriate form.
Where the register is genuinely mistaken, the wrong land, a missing right, an owner who should not be there, the route is an application to alter the register under Schedule 4 to the Land Registration Act 2002, and where loss has been caused, an indemnity claim against HM Land Registry under Schedule 8. Two things are worth knowing before anyone starts. Not every alteration carries an indemnity: paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 calls an alteration a rectification only where it both corrects a mistake and prejudicially affects a registered proprietor's title, and the indemnity follows the rectification. And the indemnity is available both ways, under paragraph 1(1)(a) where the register is rectified against you and under paragraph 1(1)(b) where the mistake is real but rectification is refused, so losing the application is itself a compensable outcome. Paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 8 indemnifies your costs only where they were reasonably incurred with the registrar's consent, so consent is asked for before costs are run up (all checked 20 September 2026). We tell you which applies and quote for the application. Where the alteration is opposed by another party, or an indemnity claim is disputed, that becomes contentious work and we refer you to a litigation solicitor.