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If you’re a victim of property fraud

Examples of property fraud are detailed below. If you’re a victim of property fraud, contact Land Registry immediately if:

• you think that you’ve already been the victim of property fraud
  
• someone has changed the register so that you’re no longer shown as the owner

You should also get legal advice and contact the police.

You can get free advice from Citizens Advice. A solicitor can help you but you might have to pay a fee.

• Guide: How to safeguard against property fraud Opens new window

Adverts for ‘free land’

Adverts for ‘free land’ are often misleading and inaccurate. The following are examples of the sorts of claims these adverts often make.

Unregistered land is not owned by anyone

Untrue: all land is owned by someone even if:

• it is unregistered with Land Registry
  
• the owner has died without leaving a will or any relatives
  
• the company that owned the land has been ‘dissolved’ (no longer exists)

Unregistered land has been abandoned or the owner can’t be traced

Untrue: a lot of land is unregistered because it hasn’t changed hands since compulsory land registration was introduced.

Claiming land costs less than £100, while becoming the owner of land could be worth a fortune

Untrue: the true owner could take legal action, claiming trespass and criminal damage. You might also have to pay all their legal costs.

The Land Registration Act 2002 made it easier to claim land by squatting

Untrue: for registered land, Land Registry send a notice to the registered owner telling them you are applying to be registered as the owner. The registered owner then has up to two years to reclaim the land.

• Squatting: applying to own land by adverse possession

• Guide: Advertisements about claiming land (England and Wales) Opens new window

‘Land banking’ schemes

If you’re looking to invest in plots of land, you should be aware of land banking schemes.

These are schemes where it’s claimed the plots of land on offer have good investment value, usually because of the expectation for future development. However in reality, there is little or no chance of the land in question ever being developed.

For more on the risks involved in buying land that’s part of a land banking scheme, see Land Registry’s public guide 21. The guide includes contact details for organisations that provide independent advice, as well as lists of specialist property solicitors and valuers.

• Land Registry’s public guide 21 (land banking schemes) Opens new window

The sale of ‘titles’ and land

Some websites sell ‘titles’ such as ‘Lord’, ‘Lady’, ‘Earl’ etc. Although the method isn’t always explained, it usually just involves a change of name. For example, ‘John Smith’ to ‘Lord John Smith’. Sometimes you are asked to buy a plot of land and give it a name, for example, ‘Mayfair’.

When the land is registered, documents from Land Registry will show the details of the owner and land. For example, ‘Lord John Smith of Mayfair’. However, this does not mean you have been knighted or become a peer or that you actually own Mayfair in London. They just confirm the details given when the land was registered.

• Guide: The sale of 'titles' and Land Registry Opens new window

More useful links

• Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau

• Find a solicitor on the Law Society's website Opens new window