How to Find Out Who Owns a Property

Where ownership is recorded

When property or land in England and Wales is registered, HM Land Registry records the ownership in the title register. The proprietorship section of the register normally names the current registered owner, together with an address for service and, in some cases, the price paid where recorded.

This makes the register the standard first step for an ownership question — whether you are asking about the house next door, a piece of land you want to make an offer on, or an empty property you would like to see brought back into use.

Steps to find a property’s owner

1. Confirm the property you mean. An address is usually enough. For land without a postal address, a description and a map pin work — see ordering for land without an address.
2. Order a copy of the title register. We identify the registered title, check the details by hand and deliver the register as a PDF.
3. Read the proprietorship section. It normally names the registered owner where recorded. For a company, it usually records the company name and number.
4. Follow up if needed. A company can be looked up on the Companies House public register; for anything with legal consequences, take professional advice.

Caveats worth knowing before you order

• Unregistered land. A small proportion of land in England and Wales is still unregistered, so there is no register to retrieve. If that appears to be the case with your property, we contact you to discuss options rather than charging for nothing.
• Sales in progress. After a recent sale, the register may still show the previous owner while HM Land Registry completes the registration.
• Companies. Where a company owns the property, the register shows the company rather than the individuals behind it.
• Trusts and estates. The registered owner may hold the property as a trustee or executor, so the legal owner on the register is not always the person who ultimately benefits from it.
• Owners and occupiers differ. The register records ownership, not who lives at the property.

One property can also involve more than one title — a leasehold flat has its own title separate from the building’s freehold, and garages or gardens are sometimes registered separately. If more than one title could match your request, we contact you before continuing.

Checking one property at a time

This service answers ownership questions for individual properties, ordered one at a time with a human check on each. We do not offer bulk ownership data, and register copies should not be used to compile databases of owners or for unsolicited marketing — personal data in the register is still protected by data protection law.