At Drivers & Norris, keeping our clients informed about risks in the property market is part of how we do business. New figures highlight a threat that many owners have never even considered: someone else selling, mortgaging or transferring your property without your knowledge.
The numbers
According to HM Land Registry, 55 cases of owner impersonation fraud were recorded between April 2025 and March 2026. This data, obtained through a Freedom of Information request from Novus Strategy, shows fraudsters attempting to sell properties to unsuspecting buyers, secure mortgages against them, or transfer ownership entirely using forged documents.
Properties that are mortgage free, rented out, or left empty for long periods are particularly vulnerable. In these cases, the genuine owner may simply not be around often enough to notice suspicious activity before it is too late.
A case that shows the real cost
The story of Reverend Mike Hall demonstrates just how damaging this fraud can be. In 2021, criminals used stolen identity details and forged paperwork to impersonate him and sell his mortgage free home in Luton for £131,000, all without his knowledge. By the time he found out, the house had already changed hands, been emptied, and renovation work had begun. Although HM Land Registry eventually restored his ownership, it took years of legal action before he got his home back.
Why this is getting harder to catch
A spokesperson for Novus Strategy explained that while owner impersonation fraud is rare, it is a high impact crime, and the risk is growing. Artificial intelligence can now generate convincing fake documents that are harder to detect using verification processes built for an earlier era of fraud. This means today’s figures could understate the scale of the problem in the years ahead.
Part of the issue is that no single organisation has full visibility of a property transaction from start to finish. HM Land Registry sees suspected fraudulent registration applications, Action Fraud handles payment diversion cases, and incidents involving forged identity documents or fraudulent conveyancer certification are not tracked together. Identity and ownership checks tend to happen in isolation, at a single desk, at a single moment, with no shared or auditable record of who was verified and how.
Our advice
If you own a property that is mortgage free, rented out, or sits empty for periods of time, it is worth taking a few simple precautions:
- Register for HM Land Registry’s free Property Alert service, which notifies you of any activity on your title
- Keep your contact details up to date with the Land Registry so you can be reached quickly
- Consider a restriction on your title if you are an owner at higher risk
- Stay alert to unexpected post or contact from solicitors or lenders you do not recognise
As always, the team at Drivers & Norris is here to help if you have any questions about protecting your property or your investment. Get in touch with us for advice tailored to your situation.
Source: Estate Agent Today
— Drivers & Norris