How to Find a Property Title Number

Written by Editorial Team · Last reviewed 19 July 2026

A title number is the unique reference HM Land Registry gives each registered title, such as AB123456. You can find it at the top of the title register and title plan, and often in mortgage offers, completion statements and solicitors' letters. If you cannot find it, you can still order documents by address — the title is identified as part of the order.

What a title number is

When HM Land Registry registers a piece of land, it allocates a unique reference called the title number — something like AB123456. Every document relating to that title carries the number, and solicitors, lenders and surveyors use it as shorthand for the property.

One point trips people up: title numbers belong to titles, not addresses. A single address can sit on one title or several, and one title can cover many addresses, so treat the number as the reference for a particular registered holding rather than for a house as such.

Where title numbers appear

If you already have property paperwork, the number is usually hiding in one of these places:

| Document | Where to look | | --- | --- | | Title register | Printed at the top of the first page, and repeated in the header | | Title plan | Shown in the title bar of the plan | | Mortgage offer or lender correspondence | Often quoted in the property details or account summary | | Completion statement or solicitor's letters | Frequently referenced when the purchase was registered | | Old official copies from a previous purchase | On the front page, exactly as on a current register | | Landlord or management company letters (leasehold) | Sometimes quote the leasehold title number |

Notice what is not on the list: council tax bills, utility bills and estate agent particulars. Those documents deal with the address, not the registered title, and almost never show the number.

Steps to find a title number

Check any old official copies first. If you or a previous owner ever ordered the register or plan, the number is on the front page.
Go through purchase paperwork. Completion statements, transfer documents and solicitors' letters from when you bought the property often quote it.
Look at mortgage documents. Lenders register their charge against the title, so offers and redemption statements frequently reference the number.
Ask the solicitor who acted for you. Firms keep files for years and can usually supply the reference quickly.
Order the register by address. If nothing turns up, ordering a copy of the title register is the definitive route — the document itself is the source of the number.

You do not need it to order documents

Worth stating plainly: you do not need a title number to order the register or title plan through our service. Give us the address — or a description and location for land without one — and we check it by hand and identify the registered title as part of the order. If more than one title could match, for instance a freehold and a leasehold at the same address, we contact you to confirm which you want before retrieving anything.

We are an independent retrieval service rather than HM Land Registry, and buying directly from HM Land Registry usually costs less if you are happy to identify the title yourself. Our fee covers the human checking, retrieval, secure delivery and support.

If no title number exists

Not all land is registered. A minority of properties — typically ones that have not changed hands for decades — have never been registered, and for those there is no title number, no register and no title plan. If a search by address draws a blank, that is usually the explanation, and a solicitor can advise on proving ownership from the deeds and on voluntary first registration.

This is general information rather than legal advice; for anything that turns on a specific title, check the documents themselves.

How to Find a Property Title Number — FAQs

What does a title number look like?

Usually one to three letters followed by up to six digits — for example AB123456 or SGL45678. The letter prefix often reflects the area where the title was first registered, but the number is best treated as a simple unique reference.

Do I need the title number to order the register or plan?

Not through our service. We work from the address or location you give us, check it by hand and identify the registered title as part of the order. If more than one title could match, we contact you before anything is retrieved.

Why does my property seem to have two title numbers?

Commonly because there is a freehold title and a separate leasehold title for the same address — normal for flats — or because a garage, parking space or extra garden was bought separately and registered under its own title.

What if I cannot find a title number anywhere?

Either the paperwork simply is not to hand, or the land is unregistered. Ordering by address resolves the first case. If the land has never been registered, there is no title number and no register to obtain.

Does the title number ever change?

It can. Titles are occasionally merged, divided or closed — for example when land is split and sold in parts — and new numbers are allocated. The current register always shows the number that applies today.