What is a Certificate of Title?
A Certificate of Title is a legal document that records and proves ownership of a piece of land or a property. A copy of the Certificate of Title is called a Record of Certificate of Title.
At Landgate, we maintain the official register of land ownership and survey information for the WA State Government. All land information in this public register, including certificates of title, is available to everyone.
You do not need to own a property to order a copy of its Certificate of Title, which is available in digital format through our Land Enquiry Services (LES) site.
Why order a copy of a Certificate of Title?
A Certificate of Title provides proof of ownership along with a list of all the registered interests that affect the land. If you’re planning to sell, purchase, build or renovate a property, then you may need a copy of a Certificate of Title.
By having a copy of the title, you’ll be able to:
- Verify the registered owner of the property.
- Confirm that a property you’re looking to buy is the same one indicated in the sales contract.
- Find any restrictions or covenants connected to the property
What information does it contain?
A Certificate of Title contains the following information about a property:
- current ownership details
- volume and folio number
- survey plan number and type
- document numbers for encumbrances and notifications
- whether there is a caveat against the title
- title sketch (where available).
Download a sample digital version of a Certificate of Title
How to order copies online
Follow this simple path to order and receive digital copies. Have the details you’ll need ready (see below). You’ll be prompted to place items in your shopping cart.
Option 1: Proceed as an unregistered guest user to access some documents, including certificates of titles.
Option 2: Register for a free Landgate login to gain access to a broader range of documents and services.
To complete your order, you’ll need:
- the street address OR volume and folio OR lot on plan number
- a debit or credit card
- an email address.
Need help ordering a Certificate of Title?
View our quick guide here
How long will it take?
Once you’ve submitted your order, you’ll receive an email with a receipt and your product(s) within 30 minutes. The Certificate of Title will be attached to the email in a PDF format.
Ready to order?
Frequently asked questions
No. We cannot provide you with your original Certificate of Title as it is the official entry in the WA land register. Landgate holds the one true copy of each Certificate of Title in a digital format.
Mortgages are not automatically discharged by financial institutions/banks when a home loan is paid off. If you have paid your mortgage off, it best to contact your financial institution/bank to arrange a discharge of mortgage. The discharge of mortgage document will need to be lodged with Landgate to clear your title of the mortgage.
This is a unique number which identifies individual titles of land. Western Australia adopted this as part of the Torren's Land System in the 1890s.
Survey plans are the official record of the legal boundaries of land and will usually indicate the dimensions and size of a lot. Each registered plan is allocated a unique identifying number. Plans are also divided into three types being survey plans, strata plans and survey strata plans. For further information or to order a plan go here.
When some Certificate of Titles were created, they included a sketch of the land, indicating boundaries, area and dimensions of the lot. We now use digital titles instead of paper titles as the register record for new parcels of land. As the sketch of the land was previously hand drawn onto the paper title, these are no longer available on the digital Certificate of Title.
If the original paper title included a sketch, you can order a copy through Land Enquiry Services if you have a MyLandgate billing account. If you don’t have a MyLandgate account, you will need to complete the Manual request for paper title or SMR digital history list form and forward it to Landgate for processing
Alternatively, you can purchase a plan separately from the LES stie, which shows the legal boundary and survey dimensions.
No. The company who owns the property is shown on a Certificate of Title. To learn more about the details of the individual company owners visit asic.gov.au.
The price we charge covers the cost of storage, either physically or digitally, managing updates, and retrieval guaranteeing any title against indefeasibility (that it cannot be annulled or made void).
Perches, acres, roods, chains and links are Imperial (pre-metric) units of measurement used by surveyors during the 1800s.
One rood is equal to 1/4 acre or 40 perches. To convert acres, roods and perches to square metres, use our online area conversion calculator.
One chain equals 100 links. To convert chains or links to metres, use our online distance conversion calculator.
A hectare is a metric measurement. One hectare equals 10 000 square metres.
Records for a parcel of land that has multiple titles are not available online. Please call our Customer Service team on +61 (0)8 9273 7373 for assistance.
Still have questions about Certificates of Title?
Please call our Customer Service team on +61 (0)8 9273 7373 for assistance.