Signing up to the Land Registry property alerts service is easy to do. It’s a useful anti-fraud mechanism, providing valuable peace of mind.

Property fraud – for example where someone tries to sell your property or take out a mortgage on it without your consent – can be a particular risk with vacant homes, rental properties, or homes without a mortgage. Or sometimes the owner themselves may be vulnerable even if living in the property.

That’s where the Land Registry’s alerts service can help.

Whether you’re a homeowner, landlord, or simply want to keep an eye on a vulnerable relative’s property, HM Land Registry’s free Property Alert service offers a welcome and straightforward layer of protection.

What is the Land Registry Property Alert service?

This is a free email notification service that lets you monitor up to 10 properties. You don’t need to own the property to keep tabs on it either – so if a home-owning child has gone travelling, or an elderly parent might need such support, you can sign up yourself to keep an eye on their home.

You can monitor up to 10 properties, making it a useful service for landlords too.

What does the alert service cover?

Once signed up, you’ll receive email alerts when certain activities occur on the monitored properties – the Land Registry calls this “significant activity”. These could include applications to change the register or register a mortgage.

Not every alert signals fraud, but these alerts they can give you a crucial heads-up to investigate anything unexpected.

Note that the Land Registry covers England and Wales, and you can set up alerts on registered properties only.

Signing up to property alerts

You’ll need the property’s address or title number to start monitoring – then visit gov.uk for their step by step instructions to set up your alert(s) and more information about the service.

____________________________________________________________________________

If you are looking to buy or sell your home, or to register your unregistered property, get in touch with Mercers’ residential property department.