Title search Queensland: how to get a copy of your property title

How to get a title search in Queensland

Titles are maintained by Titles Queensland. A current title search can be ordered online through Titles Queensland's search service, through an information broker, or through your solicitor — who orders one as a matter of course at the start of every transaction.

You need one of three identifiers: the lot on plan description (for example Lot 12 on RP 123456), the title reference, or the property address. The lot on plan appears on your rates notice and on the front page of any contract of sale.

• Current title search — shows the position as at today, and is the one you need
• Historical title search — shows previous owners and dealings, useful for boundary and estate work
• Registered plan — the survey plan showing the lot's dimensions, easement locations and boundaries
• Registered instruments — the actual documents behind each encumbrance listed on the title

What a title search shows

A current title search is short and dense. It records:

• The title reference and the lot on plan description
• The registered owner or owners, and whether they hold as joint tenants or tenants in common
• The estate held — almost always freehold in a residential context
• Registered mortgages, and who holds them
• Easements, both benefiting and burdening the lot
• Caveats, writs of execution and other administrative advices
• Building management statements, covenants and statutory charges
• For community titles, the scheme and the community management statement

What a title search does not show

This is the part that catches people out. The title register records registered interests. It says nothing about:

• Unapproved building work — decks, carports, sheds and enclosures without council approval
• Flood, bushfire or overlay mapping affecting the property
• Rates or water arrears, or land tax owing
• Whether a tenant is in occupation
• Contaminated land or environmental management register listings
• Encroachments and boundary discrepancies, which need a survey
• Body corporate levies, sinking fund position, disputes and by-laws

What it costs

A current title search is inexpensive — typically well under $100 including the registered plan, and it is one of the standard disbursements on every file. Historical searches and copies of registered instruments cost a little more each.

Registration fees, which are the separate charge for lodging a transfer or mortgage, scale with the value of the property and are much larger. Our fees page sets out the full disbursement picture.

Do you need to do it yourself

Anyone can order a title search, and there is no reason not to before you make an offer — it takes minutes and tells you who actually owns the property and whether a caveat is sitting on it.

Interpreting it is the harder part. An easement on a title search is three lines of text; whether it runs through the spot you intended to build on is a question of reading the registered plan and the instrument. That is what we do on every file, and it is included in our fixed fee. Call 0488 340 853 if you want a title read before you sign.

Title searches in Queensland — common questions