What is Property Fraud
Property fraud is where fraudsters try to “steal” your property, most commonly by pretending to be you and selling or mortgaging your property without your knowledge.
Since 2009, Land Registry has stopped fraud on properties worth more than £80 million.
How it works
Land Registry will send you an email alert each time there is significant activity that may result in a change to the register of a property you are monitoring, eg if a new mortgage is taken out against the property.
If you receive an alert about activity that you weren’t expecting and that seems suspicious, you should contact Land Registry.
Not all alert emails will mean fraudulent activity. You may be expecting some activity eg if you’re extending a lease or remortgaging a property. The alert will contain details of who is undertaking the activity so you can check whether it is your bank or solicitor.
You can monitor up to 10 registered properties in England and Wales. The same property can be monitored by different people.
Protect Your Home for Free
Property Alert is a free service from Land Registry, created to help owners of registered properties in England or Wales.
Land Registry is the government department responsible for maintaining the Land Register, where more than 24 million titles – the evidence of ownership – are recorded.
How to sign up in under a minute
The process is very simple.
All you need is the house number and postcode of the properties you want to monitor.
Sign up here www.gov.uk/property-alert
Unregistered Property
Your property might not be registered if you owned it before 1990 and haven’t mortgaged it since.
Our specialist property lawyers can easily and inexpensively register your land or property:
- giving you proof of ownership
- helping protect your land from fraud
- making it easier to change, sell or give your property away in the future.