Ownership Lookup Guides

Practical guides to finding out who owns something — companies, property, vehicles, domains, brands and rights — using the official UK records, and knowing what each one can and cannot tell you.

Choose an ownership lookup method

The right source depends entirely on what you are asking about. There is no single ownership register, and the differences between them are large: some are free and complete, some are paid, and some deliberately withhold the answer.

Companies and brands

Companies House names directors, people with significant control and shareholders, free. The trade mark register names who owns a brand name. Between them you can usually trace a business or brand to its ultimate owner.

Property and land

Registered land ownership is public. HM Land Registry sells the title register for a few pounds and names the registered proprietor; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own registers. Unregistered land has no register to search.

Vehicles and registration

This is the exception. A number plate does not give you an owner. DVLA keeper details are released only on a reasonable-cause application, and the registered keeper is not necessarily the legal owner.

Domains and online assets

Registration data is queryable through RDAP, but individual registrants’ details are redacted by default. Where the registrant is hidden, the site’s own legal disclosures and Companies House usually answer the question faster.

Other ownership questions

Some questions have no register behind them at all — territories, natural features, cultural works. Those guides explain what the honest answer is, and why the question is often more complicated than it looks.