United Kingdom · Land registry maps · October 24, 2026

Free Land Registry Maps in the UK, Nation by Nation

How to see registered land and title boundaries free in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and what each registry charges for more.

"Can I see land registry boundaries for free?" In the UK the answer depends on where the land is. The UK has three separate land registers: one for England and Wales, one for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland. Each publishes its map differently, charges differently, and treats boundaries slightly differently. This guide goes through all three.

The short version

Fees are as published by each registry when we checked in October 2026.

England and Wales: HM Land Registry

HM Land Registry (HMLR) runs one register for England and Wales. Its public service is called Search for land and property information. You can search by address or on a map, and registered titles show with their title numbers.

What you get:

• Property summary: free. The address, a property description, the tenure (freehold or leasehold), and whether there are restrictive covenants or easements.
• Title register: £7. The title number, who owns the property, what they paid (where available), whether there is a mortgage, and the details of covenants and rights of way.
• Title plan: £7. A map of the property's location and general boundaries.
• Official copies: £11 each by post. Needed if you have to prove ownership, for example in court. Downloaded copies are not official copies.

Two practical points. First, GOV.UK says you need to sign in (or create sign-in details) to use the service, and a card to buy documents. Second, the site runs a security check that blocks some automated traffic, so open it in a normal browser. We could not open the map page from our server, which is why there is no green button here; start from the GOV.UK page instead:

Search for land and property information on GOV.UK

INSPIRE Index Polygons

If you want a free map of registered freehold land without signing in, HMLR also publishes the INSPIRE Index Polygons: the indicative outline of every registered freehold title in England and Wales, as free monthly downloads by local authority. You need GIS software to open them, and they don't include title numbers or owners. Our INSPIRE Index Polygons guide explains how to use them.

Unregistered land

Not all land in England and Wales is registered. Registration became compulsory on sale across the whole of England and Wales in 1990, so land that has not changed hands since then, such as old family estates, church land and some farmland, may still be unregistered. If the map shows no title, the land may simply be unregistered, and the owner's deeds are the only record.

Scotland: ScotLIS

Scotland's Land Register, started in 1981, is map-based and is gradually replacing the much older General Register of Sasines. Registers of Scotland (RoS) publishes it through ScotLIS.

ScotLIS map search (Registers of Scotland) ↗

ScotLIS opened with no login when we checked on October 24, 2026.

What you get:

• Free: the indicative title extent on the map, the title number, and the last purchase price and date.
• £3.60 including VAT: a copy of the title sheet and plan, which shows the owner, burdens (conditions) and securities (mortgages).
• Indicative Sasines layer: since 31 March 2025, ScotLIS shows indicative ownership areas for land still in the old Sasine register. It is a pointer, not a register; confirming ownership still means reading the Sasine search sheets or paying RoS to search.

Our ScotLIS map search guide walks through it step by step.

Northern Ireland: no free public map

Northern Ireland's Land Registry is run by Land & Property Services (LPS), part of the Department of Finance. Registered land is recorded on folios with registry maps, much like the Republic of Ireland. But the online service, LandWeb Direct, is for registered business users such as solicitors, banks and councils. It is not open to the public.

Members of the public can still search: contact LPS by email, phone or in person, and identify the property by address or by marking it on a map. OSNI's SpatialNI portal has free base mapping, but no ownership or title layer. See our Northern Ireland land registry guide.

General boundaries: what every UK title plan shares

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, registered title plans normally show general boundaries. The red line shows roughly where the boundary runs, not its exact legal position. Scotland's Land Register is also based on the Ordnance Survey map, and ScotLIS warns that its map view is indicative only.

In practice, that means:

• Physical features matter. A hedge, wall or fence on the ground often tells you more about where the boundary is than the online map.
• Small differences are normal. The red line on a title plan can be wide at the scale of a garden.
• Disputes are settled with evidence, such as the deeds, old plans and a surveyor's report, not the online map alone.

Which document do you actually need?

• Just curious where a property's land goes? The free map in ScotLIS, or the HMLR map search (England and Wales).
• Want to know who owns it? The title register (England and Wales, £7) or the title sheet (Scotland, £3.60).
• Need the boundary drawn? The title plan, then a surveyor if it matters.
• Need proof of ownership? An official copy (England and Wales, £11 by post).

Watch out for copycat sites

All three registries warn about private sites that resell register documents at a mark-up. If a site charges £20 or more for a title register for England or Wales, you are paying far more than the £7 HMLR fee. Go to GOV.UK, ros.gov.uk or the Department of Finance site directly.

How the three systems differ in practice

Searching by map. ScotLIS lets you browse the whole Land Register on a map with no account. HMLR's map search does the same for England and Wales, with a sign-in. Northern Ireland has no public map.

Names on the free record. ScotLIS shows the last price paid for free; the owner is in the £3.60 title sheet. HMLR's free summary doesn't name the owner; the £7 title register does.

Older land. Scotland's Indicative Sasines layer gives a pointer to land that hasn't moved to the Land Register yet. In England and Wales, unregistered land simply has no title on the map, and the deeds are with the owner.

Who can use the online service. Anyone in Scotland and England and Wales; only registered business users in Northern Ireland.

A worked example: a field near the border

Say you're looking at land on the England–Scotland border near Berwick-upon-Tweed. The register you need depends on which side the land lies: HM Land Registry for land in England, Registers of Scotland for land in Scotland. Check a map first, then search the right register. The same applies at the England–Wales border, although both sides use HM Land Registry, with Welsh-language services available for Wales.

Common questions

Is there one UK land registry? No. England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland each have their own.

Can I see who owns land for free? Not quite. ScotLIS shows the last price paid free; owner names are on the paid title sheet. In England and Wales, the free summary doesn't name the owner; the £7 register does.

Do title plans show exact boundaries? Generally no. They show general boundaries.

Related guides

• INSPIRE Index Polygons explained
• ScotLIS map search guide
• Northern Ireland land registry search
• All UK parcel map pages

Sources

• GOV.UK: Search for land and property information and Search the register: fees.
• Registers of Scotland: ScotLIS and ScotLIS: what's new.
• nidirect: Searching the Land Registry and Department of Finance: LandWeb Direct access.
• ScotLIS opened and checked October 24, 2026.