Overseas Companies Ownership Data (OCOD) — UK Property via API
Query the HM Land Registry OCOD dataset by UPRN, address, or company. ~250,000 UK property titles held by overseas-registered companies, updated monthly. Essential for AML due diligence, beneficial ownership research, and corporate property intelligence.
What is OCOD?
OCOD — Overseas Companies that Own Property in England and Wales — is a dataset published by HM Land Registry under the Open Government Licence. It records every registered land title in England and Wales where the registered proprietor is a company incorporated outside the United Kingdom.
The dataset currently covers approximately 250,000 title records and is updated monthly as new titles are registered or existing titles change hands. Each record identifies the property by title number, the overseas company by name and country of incorporation, and the nature of the ownership (freehold or leasehold).
What the API returns
Company & jurisdiction details
Registered company name, country of incorporation, overseas registered address, and Companies House reference where available.
Title & tenure data
HMLR title number, tenure (freehold or leasehold), property address, and price paid where recorded at Land Registry.
UPRN cross-reference
Each OCOD record is matched to the OS AddressBase UPRN, enabling joins to EPC, planning history, sold prices, and any other Homedata endpoint without title number handling.
Register of Overseas Entities link
Where available, the API includes a reference to the beneficial owner disclosure on the Register of Overseas Entities (Companies House), introduced under the Economic Crime Act 2022.
Sample API response
{
"uprn": "100023336956",
"address": "Flat 12, Riverside Tower, London SE1 7PB",
"title_number": "TGL456789",
"tenure": "Leasehold",
"overseas_owned": true,
"proprietor": {
"name": "Oceanic Holdings Ltd",
"country_of_incorporation": "British Virgin Islands",
"registered_address": "PO Box 3159, Road Town, Tortola, BVI",
"companies_house_ref": null
},
"price_paid": 2450000,
"date_registered": "2019-04-11",
"roe_reference": "OE001234567",
"roe_beneficial_owner": "Available via Companies House ROE"
}Query by UPRN, address, postcode, or overseas company name. Returns a summary record per title including all proprietor and property details.
Why overseas ownership data matters
Anti-money-laundering due diligence
Property is identified in the UK National Risk Assessment as a high-risk sector for money laundering, and offshore corporate ownership is a key risk indicator. Solicitors and regulated firms use OCOD lookups as part of client due diligence (CDD) and source of funds checks on property transactions. Automating these checks via API reduces manual effort and creates an auditable workflow.
Beneficial ownership & transparency
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 requires overseas entities that own UK property to register their beneficial owners with Companies House on the Register of Overseas Entities. Failure to comply means the entity cannot sell or charge its UK property. OCOD combined with the ROE gives a clearer picture of who ultimately controls UK real estate held through offshore structures.
Corporate property research
Investors, journalists, and public-sector bodies use OCOD to map overseas corporate property portfolios in the UK. The dataset is a starting point for understanding exposure by jurisdiction (BVI, Cayman, Jersey, Guernsey, Luxembourg are historically common), by property type, or by geographic concentration.
Query overseas ownership by UPRN or address
~250,000 OCOD records, matched to OS UPRNs. Free tier includes 100 calls per month — no card required.
Get a free API key →Dataset structure & source
The raw OCOD data is published by HM Land Registry under the Open Government Licence v3.0. It is released monthly in CSV format and represents a snapshot of all registered titles in England and Wales where the proprietor field contains a non-UK company.
The dataset includes title number, tenure, date of proprietorship registration, proprietor name, country of incorporation, registered address, and price paid (where registered). It does not include beneficial ownership information directly — that sits with Companies House's Register of Overseas Entities, introduced in August 2022.
Homedata normalises the raw OCOD data, resolves addresses to OS AddressBase UPRNs using address-matching logic, and combines it with HM Land Registry price paid history where available. This removes the need for callers to handle title-number-based lookups or manual address resolution.
The UPRN cross-referencing means OCOD data joins cleanly to other Homedata endpoints — EPC ratings, planning history, leasehold data, and flood risk — enabling richer per-property due diligence with a single API key.
Pricing
Free
£0
100 calls/mo
Starter
£49
2,000 calls/mo
Growth
£149
10,000 calls/mo
Pro
£349
50,000 calls/mo
Access OCOD data via API today
HM Land Registry OCOD records, UPRN-matched, updated monthly. Use free tier to test your integration.
Get a free API key →FAQ
What is OCOD and who publishes it?
OCOD stands for Overseas Companies that Own Property in England and Wales. It is published monthly by HM Land Registry under the Open Government Licence and contains all registered land title records where the proprietor is a non-UK company. The dataset currently holds approximately 250,000 records.
What is the difference between OCOD and the Register of Overseas Entities?
OCOD identifies the overseas company that holds a UK title. The Register of Overseas Entities (ROE), maintained by Companies House under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, requires those companies to disclose their beneficial owners. OCOD tells you the title is offshore-held; the ROE tells you who controls the offshore entity. Where available, Homedata returns the ROE reference alongside the OCOD record.
Which overseas jurisdictions are most common in the OCOD data?
Historically the most common jurisdictions for OCOD proprietors have been British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, and Luxembourg. The split reflects both legitimate corporate structuring and the known risk profile of opaque jurisdictions for AML purposes.
Can I bulk-query OCOD to screen a portfolio?
Yes. Pass a list of UPRNs or property addresses and the API returns overseas ownership status for each. This is the primary use case for lenders, law firms, and compliance teams screening large portfolios for offshore-held properties. Growth and Pro plans support the volume needed for portfolio-scale queries.
Related data
Companies House Data →
UK corporate property ownership and director data linked to Land Registry title records.
Leasehold Data →
Tenure type, lease term, ground rent, and freeholder details — frequently relevant for overseas-held residential titles.
Conveyancing Data →
All property data relevant to conveyancing due diligence — planning history, flood risk, EPC, ownership, and title details.