HM Land Registry consults on property registration fees
HM Land Registry (HMLR) has launched a consultation on simplifying its registration fees.
Registration fees are currently based on the value of the property, which HMLR said made it hard to determine in some circumstances.
Therefore, it is proposing a simplified approach to its Scale Two fees, which apply to transfers where no money changes hands, or where less than market value is paid, as well as mortgage registrations.
Also, HMLR has also launched a consultation on accessibility to the data it holds, including cost-free access for the public sector. Data sets also being consulted are significant land holdings and land held by commercial entities.
Baroness Taylor, minister for housing and local government, said: “Under our proposals, everyone would be able to access datasets showing ownership across the vast majority of land in England and Wales, helping to increase transparency and support better-informed decisions about land use.”
The level of access to data would depend on who is accessing the information, and why.
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Under the proposals, the public would gain free access to mapped land ownership data for most land in England and Wales but would not extend to information about the majority of ordinary homeowners. Meanwhile public bodies would have free access to information across all HMLR titles. The same applies to public-interest researchers, including academics and journalists, however, there are specific criteria to be met.
HMLR assured that access would be restricted to the more privacy-sensitive residential titles to public bodies and approved researchers. Most individual titles relate to homes, but most land is held in non-residential titles.
These two consultations will be open from 27 October to 22 December 2026.
