HM Land Registry records
The title tells you who owns what. The lease tells you what follows.
Read the freehold register, title plan and filed documents together, then connect them to the lease, deed and evidence for the real question.
View the supporting illustration
Read the register
Most title registers are split into three working parts.
Property register
Identifies the registered estate and can refer to rights benefiting it. Read any filed plan or deed mentioned in the entry.
Proprietorship register
Names the registered proprietor, the class of title and restrictions affecting the proprietor's power to deal with the estate.
Charges register
Records registered charges and matters burdening the title. Follow references to leases, transfers and other filed documents.
Check the edition and pending changes
A copy shows the state of the register at the date and time stated. Pending applications can affect how that snapshot should be read.
Plan and documents
The red line is useful, but it rarely answers the exact boundary by itself.
Use the title plan for general extent
HM Land Registry explains that the plan normally shows general rather than exact boundaries. Compare it with the written register and any deed plan.
Order the document the register refers to
If an entry says a lease, transfer or deed is filed, use the official request route to obtain the document where available.
Find the leasehold title too
A freehold title does not contain every In plain EnglishA binding promise in the lease to do something, pay something or not do something.Open the plain-English glossary, In plain EnglishThe flat, space or other property granted by the lease. The exact definition in the signed document controls.Open the plain-English glossary or service-charge term in an individual lease. Match the lease to its own title and signed copy.
Check whether more than one title is involved
A building, access road, garden, parking area or service route may sit across separate titles. Use an index-map search where the ordinary search does not identify the land.
Use the record
Turn the title into five precise checks.
Who is the registered proprietor?
Use the exact legal name and title number. Then check whether the person acting has authority for that proprietor.
Which land or building is included?
Use the written description and plan together, keeping the general-boundaries rule visible.
Which rights benefit or burden it?
Follow cross-references instead of summarising an isolated register entry as the whole right.
Which restrictions or charges affect a transaction?
Identify the entry and the consent, certificate or other step it appears to require. Get transaction advice where the consequence is material.
Do you need an online copy or an official copy?
Online copies are useful for information. HM Land Registry says they cannot be used as proof of ownership; order official copies when that evidential status is needed.
Sources for this page
Check the law and official guidance.
HM Land Registry guidance on the title register, title plan, online copies and official copies.
↗Official guideHow to read a title registerThe current HM Land Registry explanation of the A, B and C registers.
↗Official guideHow to read a title planWhat the title plan shows, including the general-boundaries position.
↗Official routeGet a copy of the deedsHow to request a filed lease or deed and the current official-copy route.
↗Prepared by Adam Street, founder of building trust. Links and current-law position checked 18 August 2026. Apply the governing documents, building facts and current law to the case in front of you.
