One little-realised problem of being a property owner – whether for yourself to live in or to rent out to tenants – is that of criminals getting control for their own personal gain.
It is quite rare, but if it does happen, it can cause the hapless property owner massive problems and expense.
Here are two examples of cases where that actually happened.
The case of Mr Guy and the Bank
Mr Guy suffered big financial losses when his property was fraudulently transferred out of his name to a company. The company then granted Barclays Bank a charge over the land as security for substantial borrowing.
Mr Guy sought to challenge both the allegedly fraudulent transfer and the bank’s charge. However, the court held that he had no arguable case that Barclays had known of the fraud or deliberately turned a blind eye to it. The bank was therefore entitled to enforce its charge.
The case illustrates a particularly alarming aspect of property fraud: even if the original transfer was fraudulent, rights subsequently acquired by an innocent lender may be very difficult, if not impossible, to undo.
The case of the Welsh Vicar
In August 2021, Reverend Mike Hall discovered that while he was away working in Wales, his identity had been stolen by fraudsters and his house in Luton sold. Rev Hall only discovered this when neighbours alerted him after noticing activity at the property.
As reported by the BBC, he drove down to find builders stripping out fittings and a stranger telling him he was trespassing because the new owner’s name was already on the Land Registry.
His name was eventually restored to the Land Register in 2023. However, that was not the end of his ordeal.
He found people living at the property under what they believed was a tenancy and had to bring possession proceedings. He finally recovered possession in 2025, almost four years after discovering the fraud, and was left facing substantial repair costs.
When you are at risk
Cases such as these demonstrate why owners should use the fraud-protection measures now provided by HM Land Registry. You are particularly at risk if
- You rent out your property
- You live overseas
- The property is empty
- The property is not mortgaged
HM Land Registry will send relevant notices to the addresses for service recorded on the register. If those details are out of date—or the only recorded address is the property itself—you may not receive the notice in time to intervene.
How the Land Registry can help
Before looking specific services, there is another essential precaution.
Keeping your contact details up to date
It is important that HM Land Registry has your current contact details. Up to three addresses for service can be entered on the register, including an email address and an overseas address.
However, HM Land Registry provides two specific services which can help owners protect their properties against fraud.
Property alerts
You can sign up for property alerts if someone applies to change the property register. For example, to use it for a mortgage or transfer title to someone else.
A Property Alert will not prevent an application from being registered. However, it should give you an opportunity to contact HM Land Registry promptly and intervene if the activity is suspicious.
This is a free service, and you can sign up to get email alerts for up to ten properties in England and Wales.
It is strongly recommended that everyone does this for properties that they own. Even if you are living in the property as your home, there is no harm in signing up to property alerts. For example, you may have to be away for a period of time, during which time fraudsters could take action.
It is particularly important for landlords to do this, as if you have inadvertently let your property to fraudsters, you may never find out what they are doing.
What should you do if you have over 10 properties?
Probably the best thing is to protect properties where you feel you may be more at risk – for example, if you are worried about the occupiers, or your most valuable properties.
For properties you cannot monitor, make especially sure that the addresses for service entered on the register are correct. You could also arrange for post addressed to you at the property to be redirected, although this is not infallible.
Or, you could apply for a restriction.
Restrictions
Registering a restriction on your property title provides considerably stronger protection. Broadly, it prevents HM Land Registry from registering a sale or mortgage unless a conveyancer certifies that the person who signed the relevant document is the same person as the registered owner.
For companies and private owners not living at the property, there is no fee for this service. If you are a private owner living at the property, there is a fee of £40 per application.
The disadvantage is that the restriction adds an additional formality when the property is sold, transferred or mortgaged. You should tell your conveyancer about it at an early stage so that the necessary certificate can be dealt with promptly.
And finally
I have been banging on about this for years. But when I did a poll of delegates at a recent training session, four admitted that they had not registered property alerts for their properties.
Registering for a property alert is such a simple thing to do, and the hassle and expense it can save you are so enormous, that it seems extraordinary that anyone would fail to do it.
Particularly if you are a landlord.
So if you have not protected your properties, please click this link immediately; it contains details of the services provided by the Land Registry and links to apply for them.
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