can i hide my property from public search?!

[nannymags]

So i bought a house 2 years ago without telling certain people in my life, and have been living in it part time (renting where i work the rest of the time) but i now want to move to the house full time, permanently. If I tell people the address and they google it, it will come up on zoopla etc with the date and price bought for. The amount i dont care about but just wish it didnt come up with the date! Its going to trigger questions about deception and lying by omission etc . I know its my money my life my choice but i still have anxiety about it.
Any ideas? Is it possible to hide things from land registry etc? or is it public knowledge

You can't hide it. It's available to view on several sites. You'll have to think of a good reason that you've kept it quiet.

You won't be able to hide it.

Tell them you’re renting?!

Have you been cheekily renting at a quarter of market value from a family member pleading poverty or something?

Why would they need to know you own it? And why would they bother googling etc? Sounds a bit stalky

I am sure there is option to exclude it from Land Registry data widely available to the public not sure though if you can do it retrospectively. Just call Land Registry and ask as Zoopla and all others get their data from them.

If you really need to hide such information for your own personal safety then there are exemptions from having it in the public domain. I think you'd know about that if that were the case. As long as you've not deceived anyone or committed fraud then does it matter?

How invested will they be? Do they have reason to be annoyed that you lied by omission (like pleading poverty to rent for a tiny amount). If not I'd just leave them to it and give as little info as possible.

I found someone I was looking for by doing a building regs. and planning search, there was actually quite a lot of info with the documents. If someone is looking for you they can just pay a finding agent £35. It is very difficult to be totally anonymous.

You could try the right to be forgotten. Not sure about the details but at least for zoopla etc., it should be able to remove this information. Land registry etc. will keep that information as public/private as always but I doubt anyone will go so far to check that.

We sold a house without it appearing on Zoopla. Something to do with the land being in 2 separate deeds, then possibly being consolidated??

Do you actually need the date you bought it to be obscured (Eg because it was the same date as you sold a previous property) or do you just need to let it be thought that your purchase was more recent and just hasn't appeared on the searches (yet)? Because the most obvious conclusion to me would be that your purchase hadn't shown up, not that you had bought it 2 years before.

If you are at risk, a PP is correct that you can have your details removed. If you don’t qualify, you can set up a trust or business, and sell the property to yourself - thus registering a new date on the sale. This needs a good lawyer to handle it though, and an accountant as it changes your tax status.

You can hide it from Zoopla etc esp if it is a private sale and not listed for sale at any point. I'm not sure how to do it. you can't hide it from the land registry people though but i don't think this is what you are aiming for

wow you lot are just amazing! Such brilliant advice, thank you.

To be honest, I'm deffo not at risk, (but really good advice for anybody who could be) and not done anything cheeky like pleading poverty! (although i am as I'm paying rent and mortgage!)

Im incredibly private, and I think my initial thoughts were it was a bit of a need to know bases, kept it quiet then kind of got caught in a lie!

I will look into land registry and zoopla (its on zoopla with purchase date) otherwise will just have to fess up and play it cool.

Thanks again, xxxx

Why do you have to fess up? Just tell them someone else bought it two years ago and your purchase isn’t showing on Zoopla yet.

I can't honestly say I've ever googled a friend or family member's house purchase, date or price. Why would anyone do that?

It's not your house linked to in a current thread on AIBU is it?

Get in contact with Zoopla - they are quite helpful & may be willing to remove all details.
I have had old advert pictures removed in the past for privacy reasons from both Rightmove & Zoopla - when you view a previous listing & there are no pictures, this is what has happened (either by the owner or selling agent)

@Bouledeneige

I can't honestly say I've ever googled a friend or family member's house purchase, date or price. Why would anyone do that?

Its a totally normal thing to do, what's unusual about being interested in property prices?

You could say that you bought privately (recently) from the person who boughht it on the date shown!

@CatAndHisKit

You could say that you bought privately (recently) from the person who boughht it on the date shown!

Doesn't the land registry record all sales? I didn't think it was only those through estate agents, I'm not sure that would work

I had my own tread asking why a house isn;t in sold prices sites - responsewas it was inherited or sold privately, or possibly bought by a company. Maune if sold privately it takes lot longer to show, but I'm passing the info!

*Maybe

Why not just let people believe you are renting it unless they ask otherwise?

Presumably they know you are currently renting. You can basically move immediately just like renting rather than house buying, why would anyone have any reason to believe you have actually purchased the house at an earlier point unless you tell them?

You have lied by omission this long. Why not just continue?

I often google people’s houses. I suppose it’s just curiosity but I never tell them that and certainly won’t confront them about any details. The question is what your friends/relatives will do when they find out the date of purchase. Will they keep quiet wondering about your reasons or will they ask you about it? And which one is worse? How much it will affect your relationship? Do you need their trust 100%? Is it about your partner/siblings or about your colleagues? So I suppose your tactic depends on the answers.