Six months on from the launch of the UK Land Registry’s Property Alert service more than 12,000 people have signed up to the free service which provides an early warning of suspicious activity on someone’s property.

The Land Registry has stopped fraud on properties worth more than £66 million in the last five years. In a recent case, two fraudsters managed to pocket £50,000 by selling an empty home they didn’t own. Staff at the Land Registry spotted the fraud before it was registered but the fraudsters got away with the money and are still wanted by the police.

The Free service can be set up online with the Land Registry and each individual can monitor up to 10 properties. Email alerts will be sent when the Land Registry receives an application to change the register as well as for official searches which can be sent to us up to 30 working days before the application is sent and ‘freeze’ the register until the application is received. You can then judge whether or not the activity is suspicious and if you should seek further advice.