Increasing access to information on land has been one of our key priorities in the past year. In particular we’ve been looking at ways of making ownership information more transparent. We published a report on increasing access to land data, submitted a response to the recently consultation on privatising the Land Registry, and have blogged on why opening it up is so important to land-based social enterprises.

In September we joined forces with Friends of the Earth to host a roundtable bringing together various different groups interested in opening up the Land Registry. After finding a large amount of common ground and a thirst for change, we decided to work together to try and open up the Land Registry.

Our first step was to write a joint letter to Greg Clark MP, the Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who has responsibility for oversight of the Land Registry. You can read the full letter here. The co-signatories are Friends of the Earth, Shelter, RTPI, UK Open Government Network, TCPA, The Intergenerational Foundation, New Economics Foundation, Campaign for Freedom of Information, PCS Union, and We Own It.

We are also hosting a workshop at the upcoming conference Land for What? on why ownership data is so important. Sign up to our newsletter for updates on this and all our other work.