The certificate of title

The one true copy

Landgate keeps the WA Government’s official register of who owns land, along with its survey information, and all land information in that public register, certificates of title included, is available to everyone. Owners do not hold an original: Landgate says it cannot provide one, because the certificate of title is the official entry in the WA land register, and that it holds the single official copy of each certificate, in digital form.

What anyone can order is a copy, called a Record of Certificate of Title. It shows what the digital register holds for that piece of land at the exact time of the search.

What a title does not show

A Record of Certificate of Title shows no sketch of the land and no unregistered interests. Some older paper titles carried a hand-drawn sketch of boundaries, area and dimensions; those sketches are not on digital titles, though a copy can be requested from Landgate, and a survey plan showing the legal boundary and dimensions can be bought separately.

Other matters sit outside the title altogether. Consumer Protection’s glossary says there are up to 100 interests, restrictions or responsibilities in WA that may affect an owner’s use or enjoyment of land and are not listed on a certificate of title. Landgate’s Property Interest Report covers potential land use restrictions, such as whether a property is heritage-listed.

Searching a title

Anyone can order a copy of a property’s title; ownership is not required. Landgate gives these reasons for a buyer or seller to have one: to check the registered owner, to confirm the property is the same one named in the sales contract, and to find any restrictions or covenants. It recommends a title search when buying or selling, as it highlights potential encumbrances.

An order can be placed online, through Landgate’s Land Enquiry Services site:

1. Go to Land Enquiry Services, as a guest or with a free Landgate login, which opens up a wider range of documents.
2. Find the land by its street address, its volume and folio, or its lot on plan number.
3. Pay by debit or credit card, and give an email address.
4. The receipt and the title arrive by email, as a PDF, within 30 minutes of the order.

As at October 2026, Landgate’s Order a Certificate of Title page gives the price of a copy as $33.90.

The documents behind the entries

Each mortgage, caveat or transfer listed on a title is a document of its own, and copies can be ordered too. They cannot be found by address: the order needs the document number and type, which are shown on the title, in the second schedule or, for a transfer, the first schedule. Landgate recommends ordering a current copy of the title, so that what you are reading is up to date. As at October 2026 its Associated title documents page gives the price as $33.90.

Keeping watch over a title

Landgate’s fraud prevention pages include two services an owner can use to guard a title. TitleWatch is a subscription that emails the subscriber when an action is detected on a title, such as a change of ownership details, mortgages, leases or caveats. More on it, and on the identity checks behind every transfer, is in Electronic settlement.

The second is a landowner’s caveat (improper dealings). Once lodged, it stops the registration of documents that would ordinarily need the owner’s signature, such as transfers, mortgages and leases. It must be made in the name of all the owners, and signed and lodged by the owners themselves or by a solicitor acting for all of them; Landgate says a licensed settlement agent does not currently have authority to sign and lodge one on a landowner’s behalf. Removing it needs every owner to attend Landgate’s Midland office in person, and it does not stop every kind of sale, such as one by a mortgagee using its power of sale. Landgate also asks owners with a mortgage to check their mortgage terms with their lender before lodging one.