What we do

Overview

For most of us, land is one of the most valuable assets we'll ever own. For business and government, land is an integral part of our economy.

Land Registry Services is a business division of Land Use Victoria within the Department of Transport and Planning. We’re responsible for maintaining the register of land, which provides information on proprietorship and interests in land.

Land Use Victoria is the state’s key agency for:

• land registration
• property information
• surveying
• land valuation
• geographic names
• government land transaction oversight

Acknowledgement of Country

Registrar of Titles

The Registrar of Titles is the person responsible for managing land titles in Victoria. A land title is an official record of who owns a piece of land, and is now called a 'folio of the register'. It can also include information about mortgages, covenants, caveats and other encumbrances affecting land.

The Registrar’s roles and responsibilities are set out in the Transfer of Land Act 1958, the Subdivision Act 1988, and other Acts.

The Registrar records changes in proprietorship of land, mortgages, other encumbrances and processes plans of subdivision. Registered interests are protected through a state government guarantee.

History of the titles office

In 2001, after 125 years at 283 Queen Street, Melbourne, the titles office – or Land Use Victoria as it is now known – moved from a 19th century civic building to a 21st century office environment complete with modern facilities.

The former titles office, designed by J J Clark, a well-known Melbourne architect of the day, was completed in 1877 at a cost of £30,772.

The facade is regarded as a masterpiece of conservative Italian classicism with unusually severe Doric-style architectural features and distinctive coupled arched window details. A stark contrast to the modern premises Land Use Victoria occupies today.

In its day, 283 Queen Street represented solidity and strength in its design, which reassured Victoria's landowners that their titles were secure against theft and fire. The strong room with stone walls and doors, shuttered windows of iron and floors of thick brick and cement, created a fortress.

There is now no need for a fortress-like structure to secure Victoria's 2.9 million titles as today they are securely stored electronically in the Victorian Online Titles System (VOTS). Registration once took weeks but can now take only a matter of minutes for the majority of property transactions.