Introduction – Who 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 offices located throughout England and Wales. We also have our Head Office in London and our Information Systems Office in Plymouth. The Land Charges and Agricultural Credits Departments also form part of our organisation.

In 1990 we became the first of the Lord Chancellor’s Executive Agencies and we were granted Trading Fund status in 1993. Our legislation requires us to be self-financing and, under normal operating circumstances, we make no call on the taxpayer. You can access further information about the framework in which we operate in our Framework Document, published in December 2003.

We have always 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 of paramount importance in determining our future business developments.

We are proud of what our predecessors and we have achieved so far in 142 years of land registration. With the largest property database in the world, Land Registry underpins the economy by guaranteeing somewhere in the region of £2.5 trillion worth of property.