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14/7/25 8:13 pm
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Landlords have been encouraged to sign up to HM Land Registry's free Property Alert Service to ensure their properties don't fall prey to fraudsters.
According to new figures obtained by client due diligence platform Thirdfort, there have been 857,000 registrations for HM Land Registry’s free Property Alert Service since 2013.
Freedom of Information data shows that 60,465 registrations were recorded in the first half of 2025. However, recent years have shown a slowdown in new registrations; in 2022, 178,086 signed up, the highest annual total to date, while 2023 and 2024 each saw just over 100,000 sign-ups.
Property title fraud typically involves fraudsters attempting to acquire ownership of a property using forged documents to impersonate the registered owner. Rental homes are particularly susceptible because landlords don’t live in the property, making it easier for criminals to intercept official correspondence or even assume false identities using the rental address.
“Fraudsters can impersonate landlords using forged documents, and because the occupants are tenants rather than owners, suspicious activity is less likely to be spotted,” Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and managing director of Thirdfort, tells LandlordZONE. “Absent landlords are particularly at risk, as fraudsters can intercept post and obtain identification at the property address.”
The Land Registry service monitors properties for any suspicious activity, sending immediate email alerts when someone applies to change ownership, transfer the property, or secure a mortgage against it.
Landlords can monitor up to ten properties through a single account and when an alert is triggered, they get full details including an outline of what’s happening, who’s applying, and when the application was received. The system also sends six-monthly summaries confirming which properties are being tracked and highlighting any alerts generated.
In the 12 months to March this year, the Land Registry reports that the service has prevented more than £59 million worth of fraudulent property transactions.
Visit here to register.
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