Land Registry plots
What the LAND REGISTRY PLOTS plate draws, how HM Land Registry INSPIRE Index Polygons are prepared, and what they do not show.
Overview
England and Wales have no cadastre. The nearest open dataset is HM Land Registry's INSPIRE Index Polygons: one polygon for each registered freehold title, published monthly by local authority under the Open Government Licence. LAND REGISTRY PLOTS draws these polygons as lines. PLOT SIZE colours the same polygons by area, and parcel picking on the map uses them as well.
How to use
- Generate the diagrams for the site; the plate is in the set
- To use titles as the site, choose «Parcel» and click the map. The smallest title polygon that contains the clicked point is picked
- Click several parcels to combine them; click a chosen parcel again to drop it. «Lasso several parcels» picks every parcel inside a shape you draw
- «Merge parcels» merges touching parcels into one face and drops the interior lines. The «Site overview» then shows the site area
Preparation
| Step | Content |
|---|---|
| Download | The monthly zip for each London borough (no key or account needed) |
| Duplicates across boroughs | Titles on a borough boundary are in two files; the same INSPIRE ID is kept once |
| Stacked titles | Polygons that are almost the same shape (area ratio 0.9–1.11 and overlap of at least 95%) are reduced to the larger one; partial overlaps are kept |
| Area | Measured from the polygon in British National Grid. There is no registered area in the data |
| Coordinates | British National Grid converted to WGS84 (about 2 m accuracy) |
The plate draws lines only. Overlapping titles (about 9–12% of polygons in the central London samples before reduction) would hide each other if filled.
What the data does not show
- Legal boundaries. The polygons show the indicative extent of a title. Registered titles have general boundaries, and the polygon can differ from the boundary on the ground
- Unregistered land. Land never registered has no polygon. Most streets are blank; in the Bloomsbury sample about 20% of the circle has no polygon
- Leasehold. Only freehold titles are in the data. Flats and floors held on leases are not divided
- Owners and use. The data holds the INSPIRE ID only. Ownership and title details are available from HM Land Registry for a fee
- Very large titles. Institutions and estates can hold whole blocks under one title (British Museum about 6 ha, King's Cross development about 11.2 ha)
The plate note and the «Details» window state that the polygons show the indicative extent of registered titles, not legal boundaries. Keep that statement with the figure in a report.
Attribution
The attribution below is required by the licence and is printed in the source line of the plate:
This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063.
Related guides
Example plate: This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063.