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Companies mimicking HM Land Registry.
Somersetleveller
Posts: 1 Newbie
A week ago I Googled 'Land Registry' to get hold of a copy of the Title for a property I own.
The Company calls itself Land Registry UK and, having missed the small print stating they are not HM Land Registry (HMLR), I paid online about 60 pounds for a copy of the Title.
Soon after, this Company emailed to state that there were no documents available and that my account would be refunded in 4-10 days).
The strange thing is the neither the charge nor the reimbursement appears on my bank statement.
Possibly this is a legitimate Co. piggybacking on Land Registry data to make money but am concerned it is a scam outfit. Their web site [www.landregistryuk.co.uk] looks professional but there is no Director name, or number and it is not listed by Companies House.
It turns out that the Title is not registered digitally by HMLR (property purchased before 1990s) so should I be concerned that this 'pseudo' Land Registry Company could try to steal my Title? ... since they now know the address etc.
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If you read their T&Cs they claim to be a company operating out of the UAE and so wouldn't be listed at Companies House.Somersetleveller said:A week ago I Googled 'Land Registry' to get hold of a copy of the Title for a property I own.The Company calls itself Land Registry UK and, having missed the small print stating they are not HM Land Registry (HMLR), I paid online about 60 pounds for a copy of the Title.Soon after, this Company emailed to state that there were no documents available and that my account would be refunded in 4-10 days).The strange thing is the neither the charge nor the reimbursement appears on my bank statement.Possibly this is a legitimate Co. piggybacking on Land Registry data to make money but am concerned it is a scam outfit. Their web site [www.landregistryuk.co.uk] looks professional but there is no Director name, or number and it is not listed by Companies House.It turns out that the Title is not registered digitally by HMLR (property purchased before 1990s) so should I be concerned that this 'pseudo' Land Registry Company could try to steal my Title? ... since they now know the address etc.
Most of these are not technically a scam but simply very poor value as all they're doing is adding a big margin for filling the same information into the relevant governmental portal on your behalf. There have historically been lots of threads on similar companies covering land registry, passport applications, car tax, ESTAs and everything in-between. Dont recall any issues being claimed beyond the fact that people paid way above the official fees for the service.6 -
For anyone seeking official government websites, any government (including local government) portal in England has the suffix .gov.uk and official government agencies such as HM Land Registry have the suffix .org.uk6
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...and searching from the gov.uk website (rather than google etc) is the best way of finding official government information and services.Jude57 said:For anyone seeking official government websites, any government (including local government) portal in England has the suffix .gov.uk and official government agencies such as HM Land Registry have the suffix .org.uk
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Given their terms statePossibly this is a legitimate Co. piggybacking on Land Registry data to make money but am concerned it is a scam outfit. Their web site [www.landregistryuk.co.uk] looks professional but there is no Director name, or number and it is not listed by Companies House.
"We are 8Forty AE (trading as Land Registry UK) a company registered in UAE"
I wouldn't expect them to be found on Companies House.
I'm not aware of any of such outlets actually being a "scam", insofar as they do actually provide the services requested.
No idea how they would "steal" your title anyway!3 -
They are also .gov.uk.Jude57 said:
and official government agencies such as HM Land Registry have the suffix .org.uk
.org.uk just indicates non-profitmaking entities (generally, not governmental ones) and shouldn't be treated as verification that the site is genuine.2 -
It’s pretty tough to sell a property without having access to it. Putting a charge on it would possibly be a little easier. As it is not on the LR, fraudsters would have to start by drawing up some fake deeds. I can imagine that there are easier frauds around.Somersetleveller said:A week ago I Googled 'Land Registry' to get hold of a copy of the Title for a property I own.The Company calls itself Land Registry UK and, having missed the small print stating they are not HM Land Registry (HMLR), I paid online about 60 pounds for a copy of the Title.Soon after, this Company emailed to state that there were no documents available and that my account would be refunded in 4-10 days).The strange thing is the neither the charge nor the reimbursement appears on my bank statement.Possibly this is a legitimate Co. piggybacking on Land Registry data to make money but am concerned it is a scam outfit. Their web site [www.landregistryuk.co.uk] looks professional but there is no Director name, or number and it is not listed by Companies House.It turns out that the Title is not registered digitally by HMLR (property purchased before 1990s) so should I be concerned that this 'pseudo' Land Registry Company could try to steal my Title? ... since they now know the address etc.They have your bank account details, but I don’t know how many other people have those, too?No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?1 -
Jude57 said:For anyone seeking official government websites, any government (including local government) portal in England has the suffix .gov.uk and official government agencies such as HM Land Registry have the suffix .org.uk
They're .gov.uk
https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/HomePageRouter
A .org.uk should be a non-profit, but they don't enforce it at all.1 -
A warning to anyone looking for Title Register and Title Plan documents.
Avoid a website called UK Land Registry Online (uklandregistryonline). They are NOT the Land Registry.
They've charged me £54.98 for the Title Register and Title Plan.
The actual price from Land Registry is only £14 for both documents, i.e. £7 each.
Make sure you are on the gov.uk website and not one of these rip-off companies.
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If you own a property, whether the title is held electronically or not, if it actually has a title number, set yourself up with the Land Registry (the real one at gov.uk!) for property alerts! Quick, easy, and will tell you literally in seconds if anyone tries to lodge an application against your title.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her2 -
Agree these copy-cat companies are misleading and annoying, but there is one thing that I've found them useful for.
The one thing these "copy-cat" companies are good for is if you want a copy of a lease (not the title, or title plan, but the actual content of the lease itself), and you're in a hurry.
Unless something has changed recently, for some reason the official land registry website doesn't let normal individuals order documents like leases online, you have to fill in a paper form and send a cheque for £11 by post, and wait a few days.
There is a special land registry portal (not the normal website) where they can be ordered online, but that's more for solicitors and professionals who order hundreds of them.
The copy-cat companies do have access to the portal, and will charge you £25 or so - but it's all electronic and within 24 hours or so.
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