buying

How to read a Land Registry title register and title plan, section by section

How to read a Land Registry title register and title plan: the property, proprietorship and charges registers, restrictions and red edging.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 8

What you are looking at

General information, not advice. HM Land Registry's guide says a title register holds the legal owners' names, any mortgages, rights of way and other legal matters affecting a property, plus a property description and whether the land is freehold or leasehold. Each registered property has a unique title number, and Land Registry usually also prepares a title plan, which should be read with the register. The guide covers England and Wales. We read the GOV.UK pages named below on 4 November 2026.

You can get a title register for £7 and a title plan for £7 on GOV.UK, and an official copy costs £11 per document. Online downloads cannot be used as proof of ownership. Our guide to what you can find in a Land Registry search covers the search itself.

Part 2 of 8

The three parts

Part	What it shows	What to look for
A: property register	A brief description, whether freehold or leasehold, rights the property benefits from, and for leasehold the lease date, parties and term	Rights of way, lease length, land excluded such as mines and minerals
B: proprietorship register	Class of title, current registered owners and their contact addresses, sometimes the price paid, and restrictions	Class of title, who must sign, restrictions
C: charges register	Mortgages and financial charges, rights of others over the land, restrictive covenants and tenancies	Mortgage lender, covenants, rights of way for others

Some registers have schedules with further detail, and not every register has a C register.

Part 3 of 8

A sample, invented for illustration

The following is not a real property. It is made-up text to show the layout, with a made-up title number (XX00000).

Part	Sample entry (invented)
A: property register	Freehold. A house with garden, shown edged with red on the plan. The land has the benefit of a right of way over the drive.
B: proprietorship register	Title absolute. Owner names and addresses would appear here. Restriction: no disposition by a sole proprietor is to be registered without a court order or a trust corporation.
C: charges register	A registered charge to a lender, with the amount not shown. The land is subject to restrictive covenants.

Part 4 of 8

Part A: property

GOV.UK says the A register briefly describes the property, states whether it is freehold or leasehold and notes that it is shown on the title plan. It lists rights the property benefits from, such as a private right of way. For leasehold property it gives brief lease details. It may also contain entries such as "The mines and minerals are excepted" or refer to land removed from the title.

Part 5 of 8

Part B: proprietorship

The class of title is assigned on first registration, based on the evidence of ownership. GOV.UK says the best and most common are absolute freehold and absolute leasehold, and some titles get a more limited class. For a limited class, see our guide to possessory and unregistered title. The register also shows the current registered owners and the addresses used to contact them.

Restrictions limit the owner's power to deal with the property and stop Land Registry registering certain transactions unless stated conditions are met. GOV.UK gives these examples:

Trustee restriction, the most common, usually entered where the owners are trustees.
Conveyancer certificate, requiring a conveyancer's certificate that the person signing is the registered owner, which helps guard against fraud.
Management company certificate, requiring confirmation that lease terms have been complied with.
Transfer consent, requiring written consent from a named person or company before a transfer is registered.

If you see a restriction, ask your conveyancer what must happen before you can buy or sell.

Part 6 of 8

Part C: charges

GOV.UK says the charges register lists registered mortgages and financial charges, and the register probably will not show the amount secured. It also lists other burdens such as rights of way for others and restrictive covenants, and tenancies affecting all or part of the property. Our guide to restrictive covenants explains what they can limit.

Part 7 of 8

Reading the title plan

The red edging shows the extent of the registered land. GOV.UK says it often follows features on the Ordnance Survey map, but you cannot treat it as identifying the exact position of a legal boundary. For leasehold flats it may show the whole building. Other colours, letters and symbols identify areas affected by entries in the register, such as easements and covenants, and green edging shows land removed from the title. Plans are based on Ordnance Survey maps, so scale and accuracy limit how precisely boundaries can be shown, and you should not measure distances from the plan to find the boundary on site. See how to find your property boundaries.

Part 8 of 8

Pending changes

An official copy shows the register as at the date and time shown. If changes are pending, the copy is backdated to just before the first pending change was applied for.

This page is general information, not advice. Land Registry cannot give legal advice and neither can we, so ask a conveyancer about anything unclear.

Our take

Read the register before you rely on the plan

Our view: the title register tells you who owns a home and what binds it, so most buyers should read it before offering. Pay attention to restrictions in part B and covenants in part C, and remember the red line on the plan is not the exact legal boundary. The common mistake is treating the plan as a boundary survey.

What Your Property Check adds: the register costs £7, and OfferCheck sits alongside it with a plain-English risk report on any UK address before you offer, covering crime, flood, planning, tenure and more, every figure sourced. It does not replace reading the register or your conveyancer's advice.

Get OfferCheck

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

What does a title register show?

The legal owners' names, any mortgages, rights of way and other legal matters affecting the property, a property description and whether it is freehold or leasehold.

What is the property register?

Part A. It briefly describes the property, says whether it is freehold or leasehold, lists rights the property benefits from and, for leasehold, gives brief lease details.

What is a restriction on a title register?

An entry in the proprietorship register that limits the owner's power to deal with the property and stops certain transactions being registered unless stated conditions are met.

How do I read the title plan?

Red edging shows the registered land, other colours refer to register entries and green edging shows land removed. GOV.UK says the red edging does not give the exact legal boundary.

How much does a title register cost?

GOV.UK lists £7 for a title register and £7 for a title plan, and £11 per document for an official copy. Check the page for current fees.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.