Homeowners at risk of having properties sold from under them

Millions of homeowners are at risk of their properties being sold without their knowledge as property title frauds rise. Official figures show only around a quarter of a million of Britain’s 29m homes are registered with the Land Registry’s anti-fraud “property alert service”. The Land Registry was forced to pay out £3.5m in compensation to homeowners last year after approving fraudulent transactions, up two thirds on the prior year. It thwarted close to 200 other attempted frauds worth £115m since 2016. The service was launched in 2014 and normally gets 4,000 sign-ups a month, but that has jumped to nearly 30,000 in the past week. 

The Daily Telegraph (15/11/2021)   The Times (15/11/2021)