Government issues new framework to “make land digital”
The Government has announced a significant overhaul of England’s land ownership data system, committing to remove key paywalls at HM Land Registry as part of the new Land Use Framework for England. The reforms aim to make land ownership more transparent, cut administrative burdens, and unlock opportunities for large‑scale planning, nature recovery and infrastructure delivery.
Despite compulsory land registration since 1990, 10% of England’s land remains unregistered. Accessing title information is currently low cost but can add up, particularly for local authorities, developers and organisations working on landscape‑scale projects. Consultation feedback made clear that these costs and data gaps slow strategic planning and obstruct collaboration.
In response, the Government will work with HM Land Registry this year to make spatial land ownership data (interactive mapping) for larger properties completely free to access. This will cover the vast majority of England and Wales while excluding almost all homeowners. The move marks the most substantial opening up of Land Registry datasets in decades and is expected to reduce costs, increase accountability, and help connect landowners involved in housing, infrastructure and environmental projects.
Alongside lifting the paywall, ministers will develop new reporting on trends in land ownership, enabling monitoring of consolidation, and explore incentives to register the remaining unregistered land. This will include engagement with landowners and, after 2029, linking registration to public payment schemes. The Government stresses that any incentives will be designed to avoid unfair impacts on tenant farmers and land managers.
These reforms form part of a broader commitment to make land digital, modernising land and environmental data so that planners, developers, farmers and communities can work from a single, accurate and accessible picture of who owns land and how it is used.
