Ағылшын және Уэльстің жер тізілімі: Мақұлдық және қадағалау

Non ministerial department of His Majesty's Government

His Majesty's Land Registry is a non ministerial department of His Majesty's Government, created in 1862 to register the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. It reports to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. HM Land Registry is internally independent and receives no government funding; it charges fees for applications lodged by customers. The current Chief Land Registrar (and CEO) is Simon Hayes. The equivalent office in Scotland is the Registers of Scotland. Land and Property Services maintain records for Northern Ireland.

HM Land Registry registers the ownership of property. It is one of the largest property databases in Europe. At the peak of the property boom in 2007, £1 million worth of property was processed every minute in England and Wales. Like land registration organisations in other countries, HM Land Registry guarantees title to registered estates and interests in land. It records the ownership rights of freehold properties, and leasehold properties where the lease has been granted for a term exceeding seven years. The definition of land can include the buildings situated upon the land, particularly where parts of buildings at different levels (such as flats) are in different ownership. It is also possible to register the ownership of the mines and minerals which lie within the ground, as well as airspace above property where this is in separate ownership. Until April 2020, HM Land Registry received no government funding, being required to ensure that its income covers expenditure, and finances itself from registration and search fees. As of April 2020, HM Land Registry receives a budget from HM Treasury and was the result of HM Land Registry's trading fund being revoked. The funding that the Land Registry receives is offset by the fees charged under the Land Registration Fee Order 2021. It provides online access to its database of titles (ownership and charges or interests by other parties) and most plans (maps). People need to pay a fee to access some information. Property owners whose property is not registered can make voluntary applications for registration. As of March 2016, there are 24.5 million registered titles representing 88% of the land mass of England and Wales. Registration of land under the Land Registration Act 2002 affords property owners some protection against squatters as well as avoiding the need to produce old documents each time a property changes hands.

HM Land Registry has 14 offices at: Birkenhead, Coventry, Croydon, Durham, Fylde (Warton), Gloucester, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Swansea, Telford and Weymouth. HM Land Registry's Head Office is based in Croydon. The in house IT department (Information Systems) and Land Charges Departments are based in Plymouth. In 2006, as a result of a review of office accommodation, HM Land Registry announced the closure of several offices. This involved merging offices in Birkenhead, Durham, Lytham/Warton, Nottingham and Swansea, and closing of offices in Harrow and York. A further review of staffing levels and overall office space began in 2009. The economic recession and lower volumes of property sales and mortgages meant that HM Land Registry's basic work in connection with remortgages and house sales reduced to the point where it made a financial loss for the first time in many years. HM Land Registry announced proposals to close five offices at Portsmouth, Tunbridge Wells, Croydon, Stevenage and Peterborough. As a result of consultation, the plans to close the Croydon and Peterborough offices were not carried out, but the closure of the other three went ahead, although until 2013 a small office remained at Portsmouth as a sub office of Croydon. The Head Office moved out of its famous Lincoln's Inn Fields building in March 2011 and is now based in Croydon. The building has been purchased by the London School of Economics for a sum of £37.5 million. During the early part of 2011, staff based in the Plymouth office were relocated to the Information Systems office in Seaton Court.

Each local office has an area manager (sometimes shared between offices), a local land registrar (also sometimes shared between offices) who is the senior lawyer, an operations manager, and an integrity manager. Each office also has staff responsible for processing applications lodged by members of the legal profession and the public. Traditionally customers send applications to the office that deals with applications for the geographical area where the property is located, but since 2009 many customers now deal with dedicated customer teams, who deal with all their applications from certain customers regardless of where the property is located. From 6 January 2014, all paper applications lodged by members of the public have been processed at the Citizen Centre at Land Registry Wales Office. The organisation is led by the Chief Land Registrar and Chief Executive (both one role). The Chief Land Registrar is assisted by the HM Land Registry Board and executive board. The HM Land Registry Board sets the overall strategy for the department. The executive board delivers the annual business plan and is responsible for day to day management. Since December 1990, the Land Register has been open to the public. For a fee, anyone can inspect the register, find out the name and address of the current owner of any registered property or obtain a copy of any registered title. This can also be done online. HM Land Registry was awarded the former Charter Mark five times, and 97% of its customers rate their service as good, very good or excellent. HM Land Registry has an independent complaints reviewer.

Disputed applications to Land Registry were determined by the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry, an independent office created by the Land Registration Act 2002. Under previous legislation this function had been the responsibility of the Chief Land Registrar. From July 2013, the functions of the Adjudicator have been transferred to the Land Registration division of the Property Chamber of the First tier Tribunal.