Registry Makes House Prices Public

The Land Registry yesterday launched a service for customers who want to find out information about house prices anywhere in England and Wales. Provided the dwelling has been registered since April 2000 one can discover the last amount paid for it, the length of any lease on it, and which lender provided the mortgage. For just £2 anyone can obtain a copy of the property register and it costs £2 for a copy of the title deeds; alternatively you can have both documents in one PDF for the same price. The Registry has a huge database of information on over 19m properties and, in the interests of transparency, opening it to the public was a natural thing for them to do. ?The Land Register is a public database and as a part of the Land Registry?s strategy we are committed to ensuring that is is accessible to everyone,? said Chief Executive Peter Collis. ?The pilot has been enthusiastically received and we look forward to the site becoming the starting point for every member of the public who is interested in the property market,? he added. James Laing from Strutt and Parker agrees that this idea is beneficial to anybody looking to sell their house for the right price: 'What this will do is debunk the myth and the fog surrounding what houses sell for because the information will be available to everybody that wants it.' 'It will also cut the time which people take to sell their house because they will have more accurate information about exactly what they can ask for it, rather than wasting time thinking it may be worth more than it is.'