What are title deeds?
Title deeds – also known as property deeds or house deeds – are a collection of documents that show the ownership history of a property. The documents can include:
Mortgages
Leases
Contracts for sale
Wills
Conveyances (transfers of ownership)
These records are stored digitally by the Land Registry in England and Wales. The Scottish equivalent is Registers of Scotland while in Northern Ireland it’s Land Registers of Northern Ireland.
In England, property ownership was only centrally registered after the Land Registry Act was passed in 1862. This is when the Land Registry was founded. It became compulsory to register property in some areas from 1926 but it wasn’t compulsory for the whole of England and Wales until 1990.
Specific transactions trigger compulsory registration for the first time, such as a sale or mortgage. Registering it voluntarily is also encouraged. However, around 12% of the land in England and Wales is still unregistered.
Thinking of selling?
Get the ball rolling with an in-person valuation of your home. It’s free and there’s no obligation to sell if you change your mind.
What are title deeds used for?
Title deeds are used to prove who owns a property. When you sell one, you need the deeds to prove you’re the legal owner and therefore entitled to sell it. They are also used in resolving property disputes, such as over boundaries or rights of way.
The physical documents used to be passed to the new owner when a property was sold but this is no longer necessary.
When you sell, your solicitor (or a licensed conveyancer) will draw up a contract to transfer the ownership of the property. After completion of the sale, the buyer’s solicitor will register the new owner of the property with the Land Registry by filling in a form.
What do title deeds look like?
Title deeds existed well before property ownership was centrally registered as owners could register their titles at local deed registries. They were originally elaborate handwritten documents but since 1925 they have been typed.
The format can vary but they usually include:
A description of the property
A plan of the property, which is a map showing its boundaries and rights of way
The names of the current and previous owners
Details of any charges on the property, such as a mortgage
Information about any restrictions affecting how the property can be used
The signatures of the current owners any other relevant parties, such as a solicitor
When do you need property title deeds?
You’re most likely to need the title deeds for your property when you sell it. However, you don’t need the original documents – just a copy.
The Land Registry holds scanned copies but not the originals. It scans the original documents when a property is registered for the first time then returns them to whoever supplied them. When you’re selling a property, your solicitor will order a copy from the Land Registry to prove to the buyer that you’re the legal owner.
The original deeds can provide extra information not in the electronic version, such as about boundaries or the previous owner, so they can still be useful if you have them. You’ll also need the originals if you’re registering a property or land for the first time so they can be scanned by the Land Registry.
Who holds the title deeds?
The Land Registry holds copies of all the title deeds for land that has been registered with it but not the originals.
If you want to get hold of your original deeds, they could be with your mortgage lender if you have a mortgage on the property or the solicitor you used when you bought it.
However, as there’s no legal requirement for the original deeds to be handed over to a new owner it might not be possible to track them down. It’s particularly unlikely if the property has been sold multiple times.
How do you get title deeds?
To get a copy of the title deeds of a registered property in England and Wales from the Land Registry, you first need to search the register for it. You’ll be able to see the property summary online for free and can then pay for copies of the title register and title plan.
You can either download copies of them online (£3 each) or order official copies by post (£7 each), which you need for proving ownership. You should receive your official copies within a week.
The property summary includes:
A description of the property and its address
The type of ownership – for example, freehold or leasehold
How much it was last sold for
Whether there are any restrictions on its use or rights over it (easements)
The title register includes:
The title number
Who owns the property
How much it was last sold for
Whether there’s a mortgage
In most cases, the details of any restrictions or rights
The title plan shows:
The location of the property
The general boundaries of the property
You can order copies of the title deed documents themselves if you need them to get additional information, such as who the previous owners were. For this you’ll first need to download the title register to get the title number. Then fill in a deeds request form and post it to the Land Registry with the correct fee (£7 per document).
To get hold of your original paper title deeds rather than scanned copies, contact the solicitor you bought the property through or your mortgage lender to find out if they have them. If they don’t, try contacting the previous owner. Bear in mind that you are only entitled to own the paper title deeds if there’s no mortgage on the property.
If none of these parties have the deeds, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to locate them.
How do I make changes to the title deeds?
You can make changes to the deeds by first filling in an application to change the register. Changes you might want to make include updating your name or adding or removing an owner. You can also change your gender on the deeds, remove a mortgage lender or update contact addresses using different forms.
There are additional forms to fill in if you’re fully or partially transferring the ownership of a property to someone else or removing an owner. The buyer’s solicitor fills in one of these forms to register the new owner when you sell a property.
You’ll also need to fill in a form to verify your identity.
How long does the Land Registry take to update title deeds?
In England and Wales, the Land Registry says that changes to existing registered titles take:
One day in 38% of cases
One week in 8% of cases
One month in 17% of cases
More than a month in 37% of cases
It takes just minutes for the register to be updated in around 30% of applications as the process is automated. In some cases, on the other hand, it can take months. However, your legal interests are protected as soon as the Land Registry receives your application, regardless of how long it takes for the changes to be completed.
Can you sell a property without title deeds?
Selling a property that isn’t registered and without the original title deeds can be tricky. It’s more difficult to prove that you’re the legal owner and a buyer’s solicitor would need to do extra work that would add to the cost of the purchase. Potential buyers may be put off by these complications.
More property title deeds FAQs
Where are my title deeds?
Scanned copies of your title deeds are held by the Land Registry (in England and Wales) or Registers of Scotland. The original documents could be with your mortgage lender or the solicitor you used when you bought the property.
The system in Northern Ireland works differently.
How long does it take to get title deeds from the Land Registry?
It takes less than a week to get official copies of title deeds. In most cases applications are processed in one or two days.
How much does it cost to change title deeds?
There are different fees for different types of changes and property values. There’s no fee for some changes, such as updating names and addresses. It costs from £20 to £305 to apply to transfer the ownership of a property online depending on its value. Applying by post costs £45 to £305.
Visit Gov.uk for a full list of the Land Registry fees that apply.
How do I check title deeds online?
To search the online register for title deed information, visit the search page on Gov.uk. You enter the postcode of the property and can then select the one you’re interested in and see its summary. You then need to create an online account to see which documents are available and download them or order official copies.