HM Land Registry
Non-ministerial government department that registers the ownership of land and property in England and Wales
| HM Land Registry
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|---|---|
| Logo | 
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| Type | Non-ministerial government department |
| Founded | 1862 |
| Location | England and Wales (14 locations) |
| Area served | England and Wales |
| Services | Registration of the ownership of land and property and of interests affecting it; maintenance of the register of title; publication of land and property datasets |
| Key people | Iain Banfield (Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar); Neil Sachdev (Non-executive Chair) |
| Website | www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry |
HM Land Registry (HMLR) is the non-ministerial government department that registers the ownership of land and property in England and Wales.[1] HM Land Registry says it was created in 1862 and works from 14 locations.[2]
According to HM Land Registry, the Land Register contains more than 27 million titles showing evidence of ownership for more than 90% of the land mass of England and Wales. Anyone buying or selling land or property, or taking out a mortgage, must apply to it to register unregistered land, any new owner of registered land, or an interest affecting registered land such as a mortgage, a lease or a right of way.[2]
HM Land Registry also publishes bulk datasets through its Use land and property data service, including two datasets of company-owned property: UK companies that own property in England and Wales (formerly Commercial and Corporate Ownership Data, CCOD) and Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales (formerly Overseas Companies Ownership Data, OCOD).[3]
Statutory basis and responsibilities
The Land Registration Act 2002 provides that "there is to continue to be an office called Her Majesty's Land Registry which is to deal with the business of registration under this Act". The registry consists of the Chief Land Registrar, who is its head, and the staff appointed by him; the Chief Land Registrar is appointed by the Secretary of State.[4] The Act also provides that "there is to continue to be a register of title kept by the registrar".[5]
HM Land Registry says its responsibilities within England and Wales are to provide a reliable record of information about ownership of and interests affecting land and property, owners with a land title guaranteed by the government, and a title plan that indicates general boundaries. It says it does not give legal advice on precise boundary positions. Once land or property is entered in the register, it records any ownership changes, mortgages or leases that affect it, and anyone who suffers loss because of an error or omission in the register will normally be compensated.[2]
People
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Iain Banfield | Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar |
| Angie Clarkson | Interim Director of Customer and Strategy |
| Stephen Aynsley-Smith | Interim Chief Financial Officer |
| Emily Hobbs | Director of Human Resources |
| Mark Gray | Chief Transformation & Technology Officer |
| Abi Howarth | Director of Land Registration Services |
| Neil Sachdev | Non-executive Chair |
| Hena Jalil | Non-executive Board Member |
| Caroline Crowther and Charlotte Spencer | Non-executive Board Members |
| Enda Ridge | Non-executive Board Member |
| Deborah McLaughlin | Non-executive Board Member |
| Ann Henshaw | Non-executive Board Member |
| Rommel Pereira | Non-executive Board Member |
Datasets
HM Land Registry publishes bulk data about registered land and property in England and Wales through its Use land and property data service. It says most of the data is free to access, but users may need to create an account and sign a licence agreement first.[3] The service lists, among others, Price Paid Data, INSPIRE index polygons, the National Polygon Service (charged at £20,000 plus VAT a year), Registered Leases, Restrictive Covenants and Transaction Data, alongside the two company ownership datasets described below, both of which it lists as free, updated monthly and available through an API.[3]
Corporate and Commercial Ownership Data
Corporate and Commercial Ownership Data refers to the HM Land Registry dataset now published as UK companies that own property in England and Wales. HM Land Registry's GOV.UK guidance says the dataset "used to be called Commercial and Corporate Ownership Data (CCOD)";[6] its licence describes it as "formerly known as the Commercial and Corporate Ownership Dataset".[7] Files are still named with the prefix CCOD.[8]
Contents
According to HM Land Registry, the dataset is a list of freehold or leasehold registered titles in England and Wales where the registered legal owner of the land is a non-private individual.[6] Its technical specification says it may contain titles registered to corporations aggregate, county councils and other local authorities, housing associations, industrial and provident societies, registered societies, limited, public limited and unlimited companies, limited liability partnerships, community interest companies, Societas Europaea registered at Companies House, and UK companies with an overseas correspondence address.[8]
The dataset excludes titles whose registered owners are private individuals, overseas companies, or charities (including charitable incorporated organisations). If an excluded owner is the sole owner, the title is left out entirely; if a title is owned jointly by included and excluded owners, the excluded owners' details are removed and an indicator shows that there are other proprietors. Email addresses and British Forces Post Office addresses are removed from correspondence addresses.[8]
For each title the dataset gives the title number, tenure, property address, district, county, region, postcode, a multiple address indicator, price paid where available, and for up to four proprietors the proprietor's name, company registration number, proprietorship category and up to three lines of correspondence address, together with the date the proprietor was added and an additional proprietor indicator.[8] The price paid figure is the last recorded sale price in HM Land Registry's published Price Paid Dataset and may not relate to the sale to the current proprietor.[8]
Coverage and data quality
HM Land Registry's specification for the overseas dataset describes this dataset as containing "more than 3.2 million records of titles registered to a UK commercial organisation or corporate body".[9] The service lists the full file as a 1.58 GB CSV.[3]
HM Land Registry says records that are in the middle of being updated cannot be shown until the next monthly release. It warns that the data comes from citizens, corporate bodies, conveyancers, deeds and other documents, and may contain spelling errors, descriptions instead of addresses, partial or missing postcodes, mistakes in company registration numbers, missing registration dates, and two different companies with the same registration number. It says companies that bought property before 1996 did not need to give their registration number.[10] The technical specification says the company registration number has been recorded during the application process since 1997, and that HM Land Registry does not validate company registration numbers.[8]
Publication and access
The dataset is updated on the second working day of each month and contains data for the previous month. It is published as a complete file and as a "change only update" file showing changes since the previous month, both in CSV format (for example CCOD_FULL_2018_10.csv and CCOD_COU_2018_10.csv).[8] According to HM Land Registry, data between March 2014 and September 2017 was published quarterly in a different structure, and no data files exist before March 2014.[10]
To download the data, users must create an account on the Use land and property data service, sign in and agree to the data licence; an API key is issued once those steps are complete. Example data can be downloaded without an account.[10] The title number can be used to link records to other HM Land Registry datasets that contain it.[8]
Licensing
The dataset is released under its own HM Land Registry licence, which grants a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the information. Because property addresses are processed against Ordnance Survey's AddressBase Premium product, which incorporates Royal Mail's PAF database, users without a Public Sector Geospatial Agreement may use the property addresses only for personal or non-commercial use, for the management of land and property and the maintenance of ownership records, or for the prevention or detection of crime and court or tribunal proceedings; other uses need Royal Mail's permission. The licence forbids publishing or selling the information as a standalone product, using it for direct marketing to registered proprietors, and using it for any unlawful purpose.[7] Users who publish the information must add the attribution statement "Information produced by HM Land Registry. © Crown copyright" with the relevant year.[7]
Overseas Companies Ownership Data
Overseas Companies Ownership Data (OCOD) is the former name of the HM Land Registry dataset now published as Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales. HM Land Registry's GOV.UK guidance says: "This dataset used to be called Overseas Companies Ownership Data (OCOD)."[11] Its licence calls it "formerly known as the Overseas Company Ownership Dataset".[12]
Contents
According to HM Land Registry, the dataset is a list of freehold or leasehold title registrations in England and Wales where the registered legal owner is an overseas company, meaning a company incorporated outside the UK. Titles registered by private individuals, UK companies with an overseas address and charities are excluded "for data protection and fraud prevention purposes".[11] The technical specification says it covers titles registered to corporate bodies, limited, public limited and unlimited companies, and limited liability partnerships. As with the UK companies dataset, jointly owned titles show only the included owners, with an indicator that there are other proprietors, and email and British Forces Post Office addresses are removed.[9]
The fields match those of the UK companies dataset, with the addition of a "Country Incorporated" field for each proprietor.[9] HM Land Registry says that where a corporation is registered in a particular state or province, both the state or province and the country are entered, giving the example "MONTBLANC HOLDINGS LIMITED (incorporated in British Columbia, Canada)".[9] The licence describes the information as covering property address, title number, tenure, proprietor names, date of registration of owners, country of incorporation, correspondence addresses and price paid data where available.[12]
Coverage and data quality
HM Land Registry's specification for the UK companies dataset describes the overseas dataset as containing "approximately 100,000 records" of titles registered to an overseas company or corporate body.[8] The service lists the full file as a 36.6 MB CSV.[3]
The technical specification says only completed register entries are included, with no pending applications or historic owners, and that HM Land Registry did not routinely record the country of incorporation in the register before January 1999. The "Registered on" date is the date the latest proprietor was added, which may be a proprietor whose details have been excluded rather than the overseas company. Where the multiple address indicator is "Y", the register contains further property addresses in a property schedule, and HM Land Registry says an official copy of the register must be bought to find out more about them.[9] It warns of the same kinds of inconsistency as in the UK companies data, including mistakes in, or absence of, company registration numbers.[13]
Publication and access
The dataset is updated on the second working day of each month with data for the previous month, as a complete file and a change only update file (for example OCOD_FULL_2018_10.csv).[9] According to HM Land Registry, data from October 2015 to September 2017 was published quarterly, and no data files exist before October 2015.[13] Access requires an account on the Use land and property data service and agreement to the licence, after which an API key is available; example data can be downloaded without an account.[13]
Licensing
The overseas dataset has its own HM Land Registry licence, on the same terms as the UK companies dataset, including the restrictions on the use of property addresses derived from Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail data.[13][12] Users who publish the information must add the statement "Information produced by HM Land Registry © Crown copyright" with the relevant year.[12]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 HM Land Registry, HM Land Registry GOV.UK, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 HM Land Registry, About us GOV.UK, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 HM Land Registry, Use land and property data GOV.UK, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Land Registration Act 2002, section 99 legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ Land Registration Act 2002, section 1 legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 HM Land Registry, HM Land Registry: UK companies that own property in England and Wales GOV.UK, published 26 May 2020, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 HM Land Registry, Licence: UK companies that own property in England and Wales Use land and property data, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 HM Land Registry, Technical specification: UK companies that own property in England and Wales Use land and property data, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 HM Land Registry, Technical specification: Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales Use land and property data, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 HM Land Registry, UK companies that own property in England and Wales Use land and property data, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 HM Land Registry, HM Land Registry: Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales GOV.UK, published 26 May 2020, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 HM Land Registry, Licence: Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales Use land and property data, accessed 22 October 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 HM Land Registry, Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales Use land and property data, accessed 22 October 2026.