How to Check Property Ownership in Singapore: Title Searches, Fees and Proof of Ownership

SLA: "You can find out the particulars of the registered owner of a private property by searching on the relevant title using "Property Ownership Information" service in INLIS" (SLA). The search keys are the property address, building or development name, postal code, land lot number, strata lot number or title document number.

The rules of access changed this year. INLIS now says: "From 1 April 2026, INLIS will implement secure digital access. All users will be required to login using their Singpass as an individual user, or as a company user", with a daily limit of 10 purchases for individuals, and "You are required to self-declare your identity and purpose when purchasing Property Information products" (INLIS).

Ownership is public record, but no longer anonymous: every search now carries your Singpass.

Since April 2026, "General Public users will have access only to Property Ownership Information (POI), Property Title Information (PTI), PTI with Cadastral Map, and PTI with Strata Certified Plan" (INLIS). Their prices, GST included (INLIS):

Two cautions from SLA (SLA):

• Match the address to the lot. "Records of property addresses are not maintained by the Registry but have been incorporated into our system for your reference. You are therefore cautioned to check the property address with the lot number to ensure that the match is correct before proceeding with your search."
• Older records. "Most Registry's records on private properties are computerised." If yours is not, search it at the Registry, 55 Newton Road #12-01 Revenue House.

Buy the S$5.25 search to confirm a name; buy the S$16.00 title when money is about to change hands.

SLA: "You can find out the particulars of the owner of the HDB flat by applying for "Image of HDB Leases" in INLIS. The photocopy of the Lease will show the name of the owner and any encumbrances affecting the property. As Leases are not available in digital format, SLA will send a hardcopy to you by fax. You can also request for it to be delivered by post" (SLA). That answer predates INLIS's April 2026 access rules, which say "General Public users will have access only to Property Ownership Information (POI), Property Title Information (PTI), PTI with Cadastral Map, and PTI with Strata Certified Plan" (INLIS). SLA's answers point anyone unsure to the INLIS Helpdesk, at 6238 9353.

If you are about to rent an HDB flat, CEA's tenant checklist says you "must verify" three things: the name of the landlord, "HDB flat Ownership" (checked on INLIS) and "HDB’s confirmation that owners are eligible to rent out the flat" (CEA). For the rules the owner must meet, see renting out an HDB flat or room.

For an HDB flat, ownership is only half the check: whether the owner may rent it out is the other half.

Three places to look:

• SLA's MyProperty. Inside INLIS, MyProperty is "A service which enables you to view the information for the private properties and/or the HDB properties with digitised records registered in your name. You will also be able to download for free the title documents and the plans for your properties" (SLA). You log in with Singpass, and "The records displayed are based on the NRIC/FIN number or UEN provided by your lawyer in the transaction documents presented for registration at SLA."
• IRAS. "Log in to myTax.iras.gov.sg with your Singpass. Select 'Account'. Select 'View Account Summary'." The "View Property Tax Notices" service shows bills and notices for the current and past 4 years, and "Only the owner of the property is able to view bills and notices relating to the property" (IRAS).
• HDB. "You may log in to MyHDBPage to check if you have met the MOP for your flat, under the ‘My Flat’ section" (HDB).

Your own title costs nothing to see: look at it before you sell or refinance.

How titles work (SLA):

• Land and landed homes have a Certificate of Title; "When land is owned by tenants in common … they can apply for Certificates of Title for their respective shares."
• Strata units, such as condo and apartment units, have a Subsidiary Strata Certificate of Title.
• Lost titles can be replaced when the Registrar "is satisfied that the Certificate of Title … is lost, destroyed or wrongfully withheld".
• Mortgaged or charged homes. Under SLA's Paperless Title Scheme, "the title documents of properties with mortgage(s) and/or charge(s) to participating financial institutions/statutory boards are not printed for collection and are instead safe-kept at SLA after registration of a transaction" (SLA). That includes homes bought with CPF: "Effective 3 Nov 2014, if you have fully paid off your housing loan and used your CPF monies to buy your property, your title document will be safe-kept at the Land Titles Registry" (SLA).
• HDB flats. SLA: "As a photocopy of Lease is not a document of title, it cannot be used for registration purpose" (SLA).

A property tax notice or a sale contract is useful supporting evidence, but SLA calls the land register "the authoritative record on the ownership of all properties registered under the Act in Singapore" (SLA). And the register can change: the owners search "does not include information on instruments pending registration which may affect ownership" (SLA).

Paper proves what was registered; only a fresh search proves what is registered now.

CEA's checklists for tenants, written by the Digitalised Property Transactions Workgroup, encourage tenants to go through them before signing a tenancy agreement, and list what to verify (CEA):

If the landlord is a company, the private-home checklist also asks for its ACRA registration number or Unique Entity Number. Both checklists add: if a property agent is involved, check that they are on CEA's public register.

Then close the loop in person. SLA puts the purpose of a search plainly: to "verify that the person who claims to be the owner of the property is indeed the legal owner" (SLA), so the name on the ID of the person you are dealing with should match the register. And never pass money through a property agent: CEA's advice is to "make payments directly to the relevant payees through verifiable means such as bank transfers, PayNow, and crossed cheques – instead of passing monies through your property agent" (CEA). For a purchase, your lawyer runs the title search as part of the conveyancing.

A S$5.25 search is the cheapest insurance a tenant can buy.

INLIS describes the title search as information "such as tenure, area, property address, ownership, encumbrances such as caveats and mortgages and encroachment on state land where available" (INLIS). On caveats, SLA: "To find out if there is a caveat lodged against your private property, you can conduct a search by using either the "Property Title Information" or "Property TItle Information - Encumbrances Information" service in INLIS. If there is a caveat lodged against your private property, you will be able see the details of the caveat reflected under the "Encumbrances" section of the title." For an HDB flat, a caveat is "endorsed on the lease" (SLA).

Why it matters: when you buy an HDB flat, the costs include a buyer's caveat, which CPF describes as "an official notice to the Singapore Land Authority to protect your interest in the flat" (CPF). A caveat you did not expect on a property you are about to buy is a question for your own lawyer before any more money changes hands.

The owners search tells you who; the encumbrances tell you who else has a claim.

INLIS says so at checkout: "Information on property purchase price is not provided in the product(s) purchased" (INLIS). On the address, SLA: "Every instrument by which a person becomes an owner will contain an address within Singapore to which any notice required by the Land Titles Act may be sent. The owner may from time to time notify the Registrar of Titles in writing of any change in his address. However, this address need not be his place of residence" (SLA).

Prices are a different record. PropKaki's property transactions finder shows past sale, rental and HDB resale prices for any Singapore project, with median price and price per square foot, so you can check a seller's asking price against what the development has actually fetched.

The register answers "who"; transaction records answer "how much".

SLA: "You can find out the ownership status of a plot of land via OneMap and INLIS (Integrated Land Information Services)" (SLA). Another SLA answer names the tool: "You may check ownership status of a property or a plot of land via the LandQuery of the free map service - Onemap" (SLA). INLIS sells the title.

When land moves from the State to a private owner, "Whenever the State issues a State title, the Registrar of Titles will issue a Certificate of Title for that piece of land pursuant to section 8 of the Land Titles Act. The owner need not make an application" (SLA).

OneMap tells you State or private for free; only a title search names the private owner.

These are SLA's INLIS prices, GST included, on the portal last updated 5 February 2026 (INLIS). An image of an HDB lease is listed at S$5.20, but it is not one of the four products general public users can buy since April 2026. A fee is payable "regardless of whether search yields a record", and "No subscription fee is required for the service" (SLA). If you pay by PayNow, INLIS warns that processing can take longer, and asks you not to buy the same product twice while you wait. Viewing your own titles on MyProperty is free.

Official rules and fees. INLIS prices (GST included), product descriptions and access rules are from SLA's INLIS portal (last updated 5 February 2026, with its April 2026 access notice), and the free owner view from its MyProperty service; the search guidance and Registry details from SLA's land titles search page; title types from SLA's issue of titles page (December 2025); the owner, caveat, address, State-land, register and paperless-title answers from SLA on ask.gov.sg; the owner-only notices from IRAS (August 2026); the MOP check from HDB; the buyer's caveat from CPF; the payment advice from CEA (December 2025); and the tenant checks from CEA's tenant checklists (version 1.1, 18 November 2020). All read on 19 September 2026.

Proprietary data. None of the figures here are PropKaki's: every fee and rule is the agency's own. PropKaki's transactions finder is linked for sale-price history. How we work: PropKaki methodology.

What we have not claimed: what company accounts can buy on INLIS, whether any particular owner or landlord is genuine, or anything about a specific property. This is a practical explainer, not legal or financial advice.