Guidance

Public data

Updated 13 October 2021

Applies to England and Wales

We make a range of datasets available and intend to add to this, where we believe the data would be:

• of wider public interest
• information frequently requested
• information that is not available from us elsewhere

Data under Open Government Licence

Data available for use and reuse under the Open Government Licence (OGL):

• Transaction Data
• Price Paid Data
• UK House Price Index
• INSPIRE Index Polygons
• 1862 Act register

Transaction Data, Price Paid Data and UK House Price Index are available in a variety of formats including txt, csv and linked data.

We also offer free online tools to search the UK House Price Index and create Price Paid Data reports.

Data free of charge

Data available free under licence:

• HM Land Registry: UK companies that own property in England and Wales
• HM Land Registry: Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales
• Restrictive Covenants (non-commercial and exploration use)
• Registered Leases (non-commercial and exploration use)

Data under chargeable, restricted licences

Data available for use and reuse under restricted licences:

• National Polygon Service
• Restrictive Covenants (commercial use)
• Registered Leases (commercial use)

Accuracy of the data

The data published has been collected from a variety of sources as part of the land registration process. We have developed internal quality processes to help us ensure our data correctly reflects the information provided to us on registration.

We use reasonable skill and care in the provision of the data, but we cannot guarantee our data is fit for your intended purpose or use.

Our Price Paid Data provides information on single residential property sales in England and Wales, sold for value, that are lodged with us for registration. The data is based on information provided to us and may not reflect the true value of a property at the time of sale. We do not guarantee or hold that the data is fit for your purpose or use.

A title number is HM Land Registry’s reference given to an individual piece of registered land. The title provides an up-to-date record of the legal ownership of the land or property in that title. The ownership of land can be either freehold or leasehold. A single title may comprise several individual plots in different ownership and may contain multiple individual properties. These can consist of a freehold, leasehold and under leases, all or some of which, may be registered. Not all property ownership needs to be registered, and this includes leases for a term of seven years or less. A title number will therefore not necessarily show all the ownerships associated with the land or properties within that title record.

If you intend to publish or quote from the data supplied, please let us know in advance of publication.

Geovation Programme funds new ideas

In partnership with Ordnance Survey, we encourage and support the innovative use of our datasets through the Geovation programme.

Start-up companies and entrepreneurs with pioneering ideas are invited to apply for grant funding of up £20,000. Read about six previously selected start-ups: Geovation welcomes a new generation of disruptive property and location data businesses.

We expect to see the benefits of this investment across the legal, financial and property sectors, stimulating growth for the wider economy.

Licence exceptions policy

We offer a range of licences depending on the nature of the data and, in some cases, the intended use of it. We will grant appropriate licences wherever possible and will act in accordance with our responsibilities under the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.

In considering an application for a licence, we may consider your intended use of the data and whether it is in accordance with the provisions of the licence. There are circumstances where we may refuse a licence and/or terminate an existing licence or licences. This is explained in our licence exceptions policy below.

The circumstances in which we may refuse a licence and/or terminate an existing licence or licences are outlined below. We will not invoke any of these exceptions disproportionately and will ensure that all customers are treated fairly.

1. We may refuse a request for a licence:

• if your request to reproduce, use or re-use HM Land Registry data falls outside of the terms of the licence or we consider it to be inappropriate
• if your use or intended use of the data would be in a way that is misleading to others or could fraudulently misrepresent HM Land Registry, or the information provided
• if you are reproducing or will reproduce material in a way that concerns public security, state security (including its economic well-being), integrity of the land register, confidential information and legal proceedings
• if you do not have enough creditworthiness (according to our check with a credit reference agency) to pay any licence fees and are not willing to offer another method of payment that is satisfactory to us

2. We may be unable to grant a licence if the data is protected by the rights of another organisation and that organisation has not given you or us their permission.

3. We may refuse a request for a licence, or where appropriate, terminate an existing licence or licences, if you or any party related or connected to you:

• is currently in dispute with us, or has previously been in dispute with us, about a very serious issue such as non-payment of licence fees or royalties, unlicensed use of our data or a material and persistent breach of any of our agreements and that dispute was not satisfactorily resolved
• has previously infringed HM Land Registry intellectual property rights, or HM Land Registry Crown copyright or database right material and this was not settled with us
• has previously infringed Crown intellectual property rights with another part of the UK Government and this was not settled with them
• has acquired HM Land Registry data through an illegitimate source

For further information or queries, contact [email protected]