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About Land Registry: FAQs
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What is Land Registry? What does Land Registry do? What is the Land Register? Why register land? How is Land Registry funded? What is Land Registry? Established in 1862, we are the government department responsible for keeping and maintaining the Land Register of England and Wales. Our main purpose is to register title to land and to record dealings in the land and property once it has been registered. We operate through 24 regional offices located throughout England and Wales in addition to our London-based Head Office and our Plymouth-based Information Systems Directorate. The Land Charges and Agricultural Credits Department also forms part of our organisation and this is based in Plymouth. Currently we employ over 8000 people. With over 141 years of land registration experience and the largest property database in Europe, Land Registry underpins the economy by guaranteeing somewhere in the region of £2.5 trillion worth of property. You can find more information about Land Registry and its services from our website. [top] What does Land Registry do? Our main purpose is to register title to land in England and Wales and to record dealings (for example, sales and mortgages) with registered land. Our principal aims are:
What is the Land Register? The land register is a record of all land registrations in England and Wales. Each register of title has its own number (the title number) and is split into three parts:
We also produce a title plan, showing the location and extent of the property. The plan does not normally show who owns the boundary features [top] Why register land? The aim of registering title is to provide a safe, simple and economic system of transferring and mortgaging land. The advantages of registering land are:
[top] How is Land Registry funded? In 1990 we became the first of the Lord Chancellor's Executive Agencies and we were granted Trading Fund status in 1993. This means that we are required to be self-financing and we make no call on public funds. We aim to set our fees at a level that is sufficient to cover our full costs, including an agreed average return on capital employed, which is paid in the form of a dividend to the Consolidated Fund. Where any surplus above the target is accrued, it is our policy to use this for the benefit of our customers, either by providing new services or by reducing our fees. Despite being a single-function department providing a monopoly service, we have consciously centred our business strategy on customer needs. Although we recognise that our customers have no choice about whether they use our services, we always treat them as though that choice exists. Prompt delivery of accurate and inexpensive land registration services is therefore of paramount importance in determining our future business developments. [top] |
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