Costs guide
How Much Are Land Registry Fees When Buying a House?
Updated 23 July 2026
HM Land Registry's fee for registering your ownership when you buy a house ranges from £20 to £500 in 2026, set by price band: £100 for a £100,001 to £200,000 home and £150 up to £500,000, when your solicitor applies online. Paper applications cost roughly double. Separately, a copy of any title register costs £7, and the pre-completion priority search your solicitor makes costs a few pounds.
HMLR registration fees, online application (Scale 1, 2026)
| Purchase price | Online fee |
|---|---|
| Up to £80,000 | £20 |
| £80,001 to £100,000 | £40 |
| £100,001 to £200,000 | £100 |
| £200,001 to £500,000 | £150 |
| £500,001 to £1,000,000 | £295 |
| Over £1,000,000 | £500 |
The three Land Registry costs in a purchase
- The registration fee (table above): the main cost, paid via your solicitor at completion, listed as a disbursement.
- Official copies of the title register and plan: £7 each in 2026, often bought early by buyers doing their own homework on ownership, covenants and charges.
- Pre-completion searches: the OS1 priority search and bankruptcy search your solicitor makes just before completion, a few pounds each.
Online vs postal fees, and who applies
The fee bands above apply when the application is submitted through HMLR's portal, which is how virtually all conveyancers work. Postal applications sit on a higher scale, roughly double, and first registrations of previously unregistered land also pay the higher scale. As a buyer you do not deal with HMLR directly; the fee simply appears on your completion statement.
Registration is not instant. HMLR's backlog means simple transfers can take weeks and complex first registrations a year or more, but your ownership is protected from completion by the priority search, so the wait is administrative rather than risky.
Checking the title before you pay for anything
For £7 you can read the title register of any property in England and Wales before you offer: the registered owner, the price last paid, mortgages and charges, and any restrictive covenants or rights of way in summary form. For company-owned property, pairing the register with a Companies House check on the owning company, its health, charges and any insolvency, is one of the cheapest pieces of due diligence available to a buyer.
HomeBuyerCheck reads the title picture for you: ownership, overseas-company flags and Companies House health for corporate owners, plus the property's risk flags, from £4.99.
Free instant check; Premium from £4.99 adds ownership, ground risk and an AI buyer's verdict. No subscription.
Frequently asked questions
How much are Land Registry fees when buying a house?
For most buyers, £100 to £150 in 2026: £100 for homes between £100,001 and £200,000 and £150 up to £500,000, applied online. Cheaper homes pay £20 to £40, homes over £500,000 pay £295, and over £1m pay £500.
Who pays the Land Registry fee, buyer or seller?
The buyer. It is the fee for registering the buyer's new ownership (and their lender's charge), paid through the buyer's solicitor at completion as a disbursement.
How much does it cost to get a copy of the title register?
£7 per document from HM Land Registry in 2026, so £14 for the register and title plan together. Third-party websites resell the same documents at a markup, so buy direct or via a service that is upfront about what it adds on top.
How long does Land Registry registration take after completion?
Straightforward transfers of registered property typically complete within weeks to a few months in 2026; first registrations and complex applications can take a year or more. Your position is protected meanwhile by the pre-completion priority search, so delays are normal and not a cause for alarm.
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Check a property before you buy