Digital Commons Coop

Land ownership data in the UK is technically public. But it's also scattered, paywalled, and built for people with GIS teams and legal budgets. That's not an accident. LandExplorer has been free since we launched it. Hundreds of housing campaigners, journalists, and community groups have used it to investigate who owns what and to make the case that the information asymmetry isn't inevitable, it's a choice. Keeping LandExplorer free requires being sustainable. So far, we've relied on short-term grants, which makes it hard to maintain data quality or build the features people want and need. So this year, we're trying something different. We're introducing a paid tier. The tool as it stands will remain free and we will be improving it to include better search, more layers, and up-to-date data (which are our most-requested updates). The paid tier will include new features and the groups who pay for LandExplorer will essentially be funding the ongoing development for the groups who can't pay. We're kicking it off with a crowdfunder in mid-2026. One of our core beliefs is that the best tools are built with communities, not just for them. We're looking for partners in shaping these tools. Paid tier members will participate in roadmap planning. Crowdfunder supporters will help us prioritise which features to build first. And we'll continue listening to everyone using these tools, whether they're paying or not. You can read about the coming changes and our motivation by going to our bio.

The RSPB has protected 160,000 hectares of land for wildlife across the UK (that’s more land than Greater London). You can see every parcel of it for free (and search for other land held in the public interest) on Land Explorer. 💚Link in our bio @rspb #righttoroam #rspb #land

Our most recent newsletter is out! Here are some highlights… 🚀 We're gearing up for the relaunch of LandExplorer later this year with exciting new features on the way… stay tuned! 🏘️ A new housing justice newsletter from our partners at Shared Assets 🔍 A pro tip for using LandExplorer to map the holdings of large landowners ✉️ Sign up in our bio

Who really owns the buildings on your street? Housing organisers spend hours piecing this together… Individual Land Registry searches are slow, expensive, and they don’t show you the bigger picture. Land Explorer does. Search one landlord, one building, one housing association. Then run a back search to see everything else they own. Connect isolated cases to wider patterns of ownership and control. We put together a guide specifically for housing justice groups that covers how to use it, what it reveals, and what to use alongside it (Companies House, FOI requests, planning registers, and more). Free tool. Free guide. Link in bio. #LandExplorer #HousingJustice #TenantsRights #UKHousing #LandOwnership DataForHousingJustice WhoOwnsThis

Here’s how… 1. Find 1 address tied to the landowner. you currently need at least one address in order to do a more in-depth search 2. Go to land explorer (it’s in our bio) 3. Search for the addy in the search bar 4. Zoom in and click on the property. Go to the side bar and turn on “All Properties”. You should then see the owner information listed 5. Scroll down and click on “Check other properties” 6. Zoom out on the map and you should see the other properties populate across England and Wales. go to our bio (it’s free) We also have a user guide available that takes you through how to use the tool!

🧑‍💻 here's how to find the holdings of some of the UK's largest landowners 👀 1. find 1 address tied to the landowner. you currently need at least one address in order to do a more in-depth search 2. go to land explorer (linked in our bio 👆) 3. search for the addy in the search bar 4. zoom in and click on the property. Go to the side bar and turn on “All Properties”. You should then see the owner information listed 5. scroll down and click on "Check other properties" 6. zoom out on the map and you should see the other properties populate across England and Wales. go to our bio for more (it's free) #LandOwnership #WhoOwnsEngland #LandReform #LandJustice #DataJournalism #CivicTech #UKPolitics #HousingCrisis #LandRegistry #Countryside #RighToRoam

Keep it wild. Find unregistered land in the UK by going to Land Explorer in our bio. 📹Max Smith / CC BY-SA 3.0 #righttoroam #landjustice #whoownsengland #protectourlands #landreform

The housing crisis isn’t a mystery. It’s a series of decisions made by developers, councils, and the government that keep getting dressed up in technical language so they’re hard to challenge. Viability assessments that declare social housing unaffordable to build. Housing need figures that get quietly revised down. Planning documents that run to hundreds of pages and are almost impossible to interrogate if you don’t know what you’re looking at. Together with @digitalcommonscoop and housing justice groups we work to unpick all of that. We build tools and resources so that tenants’ groups, housing campaigns, and community organisations can better understand the data and use it. The people most affected by these decisions shouldn’t need a planning consultant to understand them. We publish a newsletter covering the tools we’re building on and updates from housing campaigns across the country. Sign up via the link in our bio, and if you know someone who’d be interested, please share it! #HousingJustice #TenantsRights #SocialHousing #HousingCrisis #DataForGood

Did you know? The UK Ministry of Defence apparently owns twice the land area of Luxembourg across the UK. Land Explorer makes land ownership visible. Find out who owns the buildings and land in your community by going to the link in our bio

We’ve launched a newsletter for housing justice organisers!! 📩📬📨 We’re working to close the gap between the people doing the hardest work in housing, like tenants’ unions, grassroots campaigners, community organisers, and the data and tools that could make that work more powerful. The housing system is not a level playing field. The landlords, developers, and asset managers extracting profit from it have sophisticated data infrastructure at their disposal. Most grassroots groups don’t. We think that needs to change. Through the newsletter we’ll be sharing free resources, practical tools, and open calls for workshops. If you work in this space or just want to follow along make sure to subscribe by going to the link in our bio!

The housing system is stacked against the people fighting to change it. Ownership records hidden behind paywalls. Data scattered across systems that don't talk to each other. Years of organising knowledge living in someone's head or a folder no one's opened since 2022. Tenants' unions and grassroots campaigners are doing essential work but they're doing it without the tools and information that developers, landlords, and investors take for granted. Together with Shared Assets, we're working to close that gap by building practical, participatory approaches to data that fit how housing justice organising actually works. Because the people closest to the problem should have the most powerful tools to solve it. 👉 Subscribe to our newsletter by going to the link in our bio to stay updated on this work. #HousingJustice #DataJustice #TenantsRights #UKHousing #HousingRights #CommunityOrganising #LandJustice #HousingCrisis

Who owns the building you’re fighting to stay in? Who’s profiting from your service charges? Why does the landlord always seem to know more than you do? Across the UK, housing organisers are doing vital work and doing it with one hand tied behind their backs. The data that could help build their campaigns is buried, paywalled, or scattered in formats that don’t talk to each other. Together with @digitalcommonscoop , we’re working with tenants’ unions, grassroots groups, and housing justice campaigners to change that by building practical, participatory ways to work with data that fit how organising actually happens. 👉 Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates on this work by going to the link in our bio