Personal information charter
This charter outlines your data protection rights and how HM Land Registry collects, holds, uses and secures your personal information.
Our data protection obligations
HM Land Registry processes personal information lawfully and securely in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). HM Land Registry values your privacy and complies with data protection laws. We will share your information only when necessary and legally justified, as outlined in this charter.
HM Land Registry is the data controller, responsible for deciding what personal information is collected and how it is used. In this charter, ‘personal information’ means ‘personal data’ as defined by data protection laws.
As the data controller, we will:
- process your personal information according to data protection principles
- inform you of your rights and help you exercise them
- implement security measures to protect your information
- appoint data processors that meet UK GDPR standards
- provide a detailed privacy notice when necessary
- ensure you can contact us with any data protection questions or concerns
How we keep your information secure
HM Land Registry will:
- prioritise your privacy and comply with data protection laws
- implement measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or damage
- regularly review our security practices to ensure they meet government standards and industry best practice
- ensure our staff receive appropriate levels of data protection training
- consider privacy risks when introducing new technologies, policies, or processes
Our Data Protection Officer
Our Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of HM Land Registry’s use of personal information.
Their contact details are as follows:
Data Protection Officer
Trafalgar House
1 Bedford Park
Croydon
CR0 2AQ
Email: dataprotection@landregistry.gov.uk
Our statutory services
HM Land Registry holds statutory responsibility for maintaining the register of title for England and Wales, in compliance with the Land Registration Act 2002 and the Land Registration Rules 2003. We are also responsible, under other legislation, for maintaining other statutory registers and databases.
Section 66 of the Land Registration Act 2002 allows public access (subject to certain exceptions) to the register of title and related documents, including personal information. This helps establish and protect land ownership rights.
Register information includes personal details such as names and addresses of registered proprietors and others mentioned in applications and documents. Find out how to get information from HM Land Registry.
For more details on our statutory services, see our practice guides.
Our non-statutory services
We offer additional services to both individual and business customers that are not regulated by registration legislation; these are our non-statutory services. In providing these services, we collect and process personal information about account holders and grant access to limited register information.
In providing these services, we have determined that processing is necessary for performing a task in the public interest or exercising official authority vested in HM Land Registry. Detailed information about these services and how to access further information about them can be found through the following links:
| Property Alert | Account holders will receive an email alert for significant property activity, like a new mortgage. This service helps with property fraud prevention. |
| Charge Validation service | Mortgage lenders use this service to check and verify their mortgage portfolios. The personal information provided by lenders is cross-checked against our registers for accuracy and validation. |
| Data Sync service | Mortgage lenders use our service to obtain notifications regarding mortgage registrations and discharges. |
| Polygon Plus | This service allows users to see the geographic boundaries of registered titles and access ownership information for each area. |
| Register Extract service | This business-to-business service allows Business Gateway users to request specific register entries in XML format. |
| Volume Register service | A service that allows access to a bulk supply of register information where this exceeds 20 properties. |
Personal information we may collect and process
We collect and process different types of personal information, based on our specific needs.
We may collect your personal information when you:
- make an application
- create an account to access our services
- contact us via email, phone, or online forms
- visit our website GOV.UK
- visit our offices (data may be collected in visitor logs and CCTV)
- consent to marketing or sign up for our newsletters
- participate in user research
- apply for a job, including pre-employment checks or during employment
- are a supplier or service provider
- provide financial information
- are named within any application and related documents
How we collect your personal information
We may collect or validate your personal information from the following sources, including:
- directly from you
- from your nominated representative, for example, any third party authorised to act on your behalf, such as a solicitor, conveyancer, mortgagee, or agent
- Companies House
- Electoral Register
- professional and regulatory bodies
- the Insolvency Service
- credit reference agencies
- banks and financial bodies including mortgage lenders
- other government departments
- local authorities (and other originating authorities)
How we use your personal information
The collection and processing of your personal information is necessary to:
- comply with our statutory duty to maintain the Land Register and associated statutory registers and databases
- provide non-statutory services
- enable billing and recovery of fees
- provide customer service and respond to customer needs
- improve customer experience
- meet our obligations as an employer
- assist law enforcement in prevention and detection of crime
- assist HM Land Registry in the prevention, detection, and investigation of fraudulent activity, including registration fraud
- train Machine Learning technologies (Artificial Intelligence) to automate and improve services
- provide marketing communications with customer consent
Who we may share your information with
HM Land Registry is a Competent Authority under the Data Protection Act 2018, and may share information with other organisations, such as law enforcement agencies, and regulatory bodies We may also share information with specified anti-fraud organisations as stipulated in section 68 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. This exchange of information is instrumental in the prevention and detection of crimes such as property fraud and aids in the investigation of land banking schemes.
We will share your personal information with other organisations only when necessary and lawful. These organisations may include:
- government departments and agencies
- local authorities
- legal representatives
- regulatory and enforcement bodies
- police and law enforcement agencies
- courts and judicial bodies
- fraud prevention bodies
- appointed organisations processing information on our behalf
- The National Archives
- the Information Commissioner’s Office
International Transfers
When we have the legal basis to transfer personal data to third parties located outside the UK, including those who process data on our behalf, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR standards.
How long we keep your personal information
Personal information will be retained only as long as there is a lawful basis for its retention. Register information will typically be maintained indefinitely as part of public records, in accordance with our statutory obligations. Retention periods for other types of records will be determined based on ongoing business needs and applicable laws or government policies.
What we ask of you
To keep the personal information we hold about you up to date, you must:
- provide us with accurate information
- notify us of any changes, like a new contact address (also known as ‘an address for service’)
Your rights
Data Protection law gives individuals certain rights regarding the management of their personal information.
Please be aware that, under the Land Registration Act 2002, the Land Registrar is required by law to make register information accessible for public inspection. Therefore, when we process personal information for this purpose, your rights are restricted in accordance with Paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 Part 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018:
The listed UK GDPR provisions do not apply to personal data consisting of information that the controller is obliged by an enactment to make available to the public, to the extent that the application of those provisions would prevent the controller from complying with that obligation.
This includes:
- the requirement to provide ‘privacy notices’ to individuals
- the requirement to provide personal data held in the register in response to subject access requests
- the requirement to rectify personal data when it is inaccurate
- the requirement to comply with requests to be ‘forgotten’
- most of the principles of UK GDPR
This does not include other personal information processed for different purposes. To exercise your data rights, contact our Data Protection Officer. We will acknowledge requests and respond within the legal timeframe.
Your right of access (Subject Access)
You have the right to obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you as well as additional information regarding our processing of your data.
Personal information contained in the register of title is available for inspection under registration legislation and is exempt from disclosure under subject access.
Your right to rectification
You have the right to request that your personal information is rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
Requests concerning errors in the register of title are handled under statutory procedures as outlined in our registration legislation. For these matters, please submit an application detailing the specific error. Find out where to apply.
Your right to erasure
You have the right to request that your personal information is erased in certain circumstances. The right to erasure will only be applicable where there is no longer a lawful need for us to retain your information. This right will not apply where HM Land Registry is legally required to maintain and provide access to personal information recorded in our public registers.
Your right to restrict processing
You have the right to request that we stop using your personal information, but this right is limited when information is recorded in our register.
Your right to object
You have the right to object to the use of your personal information in specified circumstances, including direct marketing. Where we can demonstrate justified reasons to process the data as part of our public task, for example, in maintaining public registers, this right may not apply.
Your rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
HM Land Registry does not use automated decision-making or carry out any form of profiling using your personal data.
Complaints
If you believe that we have failed to comply with our data protection responsibilities, please contact us at dataprotection@landregistry.gov.uk.
Should you be dissatisfied with our response to your complaint, you may escalate the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.
The ICO’s address and contact details can be found below:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.co.uk
You can complain using our online complaints form, by phone or by post. Read about how to make a complaint.