Property sales will be subjected to higher registration fees from today.

The UK’s Land Registry has increased its fees for the first time since 1993, citing the downturn in the property market as the reason for the changes.

The registry, which covers England and Wales, is the government body that records and guarantees the ownership of domestic and commercial property.

When buying a property, the sale must be registered to the new owners – and across the nine price brackets for registering a sale, there is an increase of between £10 (to £50) at the low end of the price scale and £220 (to £920) for property worth over £1 million.

The registry also enables people to find out who owns land, whether there is a mortgage or legal restriction on it, and how much was paid when it was last sold.

A statement from the Land Registry said: “As a government agency with trading fund status we need to cover our operating costs and return on capital employed from our fee income.

“Due to the downturn in the property market and the deterioration in the economy generally, our intakes of work fell heavily in 2008 and 2009 leading to an unsustainable reduction in our fee income.

“A range of measures has already been taken to cut costs including a voluntary redundancy scheme and an accelerated plan to merge offices. Despite this the increases are, regrettably, unavoidable. We would not be able to cover our operating costs without increases in our fees.”

The increases run across the board for both scale and fixed fees payable on substantive applications, although there will still be a reduction of up to 25% in fees for voluntary first registrations.

The fees payable for applications for an inspection, official copy and official search will also be increased. There will still be a reduced fee where these applications are made from a remote terminal.

For more information on the Land Registry and the fees applicable when registering a property sale, visit: http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/