Title register (official copy of the register of title)

A title register is the individual register kept for one registered estate in land, identified by its title number, and an official copy of the register is the timed and dated copy the registry issues from it. The register of title and the land registry title are other names for the same document; on the document itself “Property Register” is the heading of part A only. It has a header block and three lettered parts: A Property Register, B Proprietorship Register and C Charges Register.

You do not need to own a property to order its register: the register is public and any person may take copies.

The copy you receive is a PDF with a lead page, admissible in court to the same extent as the original. How ordering works, and how the register compares with the title plan and the conveyancing pack, is set out on our land registry search page.

The header block tells you which title you are holding and when the snapshot was taken. Read it first, because two copies of the same title can differ if an application was completed between them.

A copy may also carry the line “No applications or official searches pending against this title.” Where one is pending, the copy is backdated to before it was received, so the timestamp can be earlier than the day you ordered.

The A register describes what the title consists of and the rights that benefit it. It opens with the line “This register describes the land and estate comprised in the title.” then runs as a numbered list of entries, not all dated.

Entry 1, tenure and description. Take a semi at 27 Meadowbank Road in Stockport, title number GM123456. Its first entry reads: “(14.09.1979) The Freehold land shown edged with red on the plan of the above Title filed at the Registry and being 27 Meadowbank Road, Stockport.” The bracketed date is the date of first registration; “edged with red” points you to the title plan.

Rights that benefit the land. A typical entry reads: “The land has the benefit of the rights granted by but is subject to the rights reserved by the Conveyance dated 2 May 1978 referred to in the Charges Register.” Since 15 September 2025 new easement entries use a shorter formula, “The title includes any legal easements granted by the Transfer dated …”.

Exceptions and other notes. “The mines and minerals are excepted.” means an earlier owner kept back the minerals beneath the surface. Another entry you may see records that land “edged and numbered in green on the title plan has been removed from this title”.

Leasehold titles. For a flat the A register gives the lease particulars, set out as three fields, “Date: 26 February 2018”, “Term: 125 years from 26 February 2018” and “Parties: (1) [landlord] (2) [tenant]”, and may add “Lease prohibits or restricts alienation”. The rent is not stated. Filed lease copies are covered on our conveyancing pack page.

The B register states the class of title, names the registered owner and records anything that limits the owner’s power to deal with the property.

Class of title. The heading at the top of part B is usually “Title absolute”, the best class and the one granted in the majority of cases. Possessory and qualified titles are rare; good leasehold means the landlord’s title was not produced.

The proprietor entry. The owner line follows a fixed pattern: “(22.05.1995) PROPRIETOR: JANE ELIZABETH HOLT and DAVID HOLT of 27 Meadowbank Road, Stockport”. The address is the address for service, not necessarily where the owner lives, and a company appears with its registration number, “(Co. Regn. No. [number])”. Joint, company and deceased owners are explained in our guide to who owns a property.

Price paid. Since 1 April 2000 the registry has entered “The price stated to have been paid on [date] was [amount].” after a sale. On a new lease the wording begins “The price, other than rents, stated to have been paid on the grant of the lease”. No entry is made for gifts or other transfers where no price is paid.

Three kinds of entry recur in part B of residential registers: the Form A restriction, the lender restriction and the indemnity covenant note.

Form A restriction. The most common restriction reads, word for word: “No disposition by a sole proprietor of the registered estate (except a trust corporation) under which capital money arises is to be registered unless authorised by an order of the court.” Its presence usually means the owners hold as tenants in common, though the register’s published guidance says this is not definitive.

Lender restriction. Where there is a mortgage, part B usually adds: “No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered without a written consent signed by the proprietor for the time being of the Charge dated [date] in favour of [lender] referred to in the Charges Register.”

Indemnity covenant. “(02.04.2003) Transfer contains covenant regarding Charges Register obligations” means the current owner promised to observe the covenants in part C and to cover any breach.

The C register lists everything that burdens the property: mortgages, restrictive covenants, rights other people have over the land, notices and leases granted out of the title. Some run past 100 entries.

Registered charge. A mortgage appears as a pair of entries: “Registered charge dated 8 March 2023.” followed by “Proprietor: [LENDER] LIMITED (Co. Regn. No. [number]) of [lender’s address].” No balance or rate is shown, and when the loan is repaid the pair is removed rather than marked as discharged.

Restrictive covenants. The standard form is “A Conveyance of the land in this title and other land dated 2 May 1978 made between (1) [seller] and (2) [buyer] contains restrictive covenants.” The covenants are then either set out in a schedule at the end of the register, or the entry carries “NOTE: Copy filed”, meaning the deed itself can be ordered.

Rights that burden the land. “(16.03.1995) Rights granted by Deed (24 August 1960) with [water undertaker]” records rights, such as pipes or access, that someone else holds over the property.

Notices. A unilateral notice reads “UNILATERAL NOTICE affecting [property] in respect of a Contract for Lease dated 15 May 2014” followed by “BENEFICIARY: [name] care of [address].” An agreed notice records an interest the owner consented to or the applicant proved.

Leases. On a freehold with flats let on long leases, part C lists them in a Schedule of Leases: registration date, property, lease date, term and the tenant’s title number, for example “30.06.2006, 125 years, CYM123456”. The register closes with “End of register”.

Read the register in this order.

1. Check the header: title number, the address in entry A1 and the timestamp. If A1 is the wrong property, contact us.
2. Read the tenure word in A1: “Freehold land” or “Leasehold land”. For leasehold, note the lease date and term.
3. Scan the rest of part A for benefiting rights, a mines and minerals exception and any “removed from this title” entry.
4. Read the class of title heading in part B, then the PROPRIETOR entry: every name and the bracketed date, which is when the current owners were registered.
5. Look for a price paid entry. None usually means the last transfer predates 1 April 2000 or was not a sale.
6. Read every restriction in part B. Form A points to co-ownership on trust; a lender restriction points to a mortgage in part C.
7. In part C, list each “Registered charge dated” pair. One pair means one mortgage.
8. List every deed named in a covenant or rights entry, noting whether it says “Copy filed”.
9. Read any notice and its beneficiary, and any Schedule of Leases.
10. Match every colour reference (edged red, tinted blue) against the title plan, which our title plan page explains.

The register answers most ownership questions, but not all of them.

Suppose you own 27 Meadowbank Road and want a rear extension, and a neighbour has mentioned that the estate has covenants.

Start in part C. Find every entry that “contains restrictive covenants” and note the deed date and the parties. If the covenants are set out in a schedule at the end of the register, read them there.

If the entry only says “NOTE: Copy filed”, the covenant wording is inside the deed itself, so you need the filed conveyance from the conveyancing pack. Then check part B for an indemnity covenant entry, which confirms you took on the obligation, and match any tinted area on the title plan, because a covenant may affect only part of the land.

The timestamp line tells a conveyancer how current the copy is; the edition date beside the title number identifies the edition the entries come from. A sale, a new mortgage or a notice produces new entries, each with its own bracketed date, while a discharge removes the charge entries.

Conveyancers usually ask for a recently issued copy rather than one from the seller’s drawer, because the timestamp is the “search from date” for the buyer’s official search. That search reveals entries made since the timestamp, so an old copy pushes the review of recent changes to the last minute.

A fresh copy can still lag behind the real world. If an application is pending the copy is backdated, and a change of ownership can take the registry some time to complete after a sale. A recent buyer may therefore not yet appear as proprietor, which conveyancers call the registration gap.