One Title Deed Standard
for the World
UNIDEED defines a single, machine-readable digital Certificate of Property Ownership — designed to work across 150+ legal systems and turn cross-border real estate transactions from months into minutes.
The problem we solve
Every country runs its own registry, in its own format, in its own language, under its own legal system. A buyer crossing a border faces months of paperwork, sworn translations, and intermediaries — for a single transaction.
Mission
Standardise registration practice across countries with very different legal systems. Publish three machine-readable certificate forms. Help nations build UNIDEED-compatible national registries — without rebuilding what they already have.
The standard is published for everyone — free to read, free to implement, no vendor lock-in.
Cryptographic signatures by national registries. Every certificate is verifiable, even offline.
Built on top of ISO 19152, OGC and W3C standards. Designed to map onto existing national registries — not replace them.
Member countries pay no licensing fees for the standard itself. Membership dues are symbolic for emerging economies.
The standard
UNIDEED v1.0 doesn't reinvent the wheel. We assemble three proven international standards into a single, certified Title Deed format — with a shared core and country-specific extensions.
Defines who owns what, on what basis. The international vocabulary for land administration. Adopted by Netherlands, Colombia, Indonesia, South Korea and others.
Precise plot boundaries as polygons with coordinate reference systems and survey accuracy. Mandatory in 27 EU countries via INSPIRE.
Cryptographically signed certificates that anyone can verify offline — without phoning the registry.
Three certificate forms — one for each legal tradition
For systems where registration creates ownership and the State guarantees title.
For systems where the registry records the deed and ownership is proven by a chain of documents.
For jurisdictions that combine elements of both systems. Same machine-readable core, country-specific extensions.
Example: a real cross-border purchase
Aisha lives in London. She finds a 3-bedroom apartment in Dubai Marina and wants to buy it. Here is the same transaction, before and after UNIDEED.
- 1. Aisha hires a UAE lawyer. £4,000 retainer.
- 2. The DLD title deed is in Arabic. Sworn translation: 5 days, £600.
- 3. Her London bank's compliance team asks for the source-of-funds chain. Three notarised affidavits.
- 4. The UK conveyancer can't verify the deed without an Arabic-speaking partner firm. Another month.
- 5. Funds transferred via escrow. The deed is registered, but the UK side keeps a paper PDF — verifiable only by phoning Dubai.
- 1. The DLD issues the title deed as a Verifiable Credential, signed by
did:web:land-registry.gov.ae. - 2. Aisha's UK conveyancer drops the credential into any UNIDEED-compatible viewer. Signature checks in < 1 second.
- 3. The standard core (owner, parcel ID, area, ownership type, encumbrances) is identical across countries. No translation needed — labels render in English, French, Arabic, all from the same data.
- 4. The plot boundary is a precise OGC polygon with declared accuracy. The UK bank's risk system reads it directly.
- 5. Selective disclosure: Aisha can prove ownership without revealing the purchase price.
What a UNIDEED Title Deed actually looks like
{
"type": "LandTitleCredential",
"issuer": "did:web:land-registry.gov.ae",
"validFrom": "2026-01-15",
"credentialSubject": {
"name": "Aisha Khan",
"rightType": "freehold",
"share": "1/1",
"parcelID": "DXB-PARCEL-567890",
"area": "112.4 m²",
"boundary": { "type": "Polygon", "crs": "EPSG:4326", "accuracy": "0.05m" }
},
"proof": {
"type": "DataIntegrityProof",
"verificationMethod": "did:web:land-registry.gov.ae#key-1"
}
}Pioneer countries
First partners are jurisdictions with mature digital registries — they already have the infrastructure, they need the interoperability.
Dubai Land Department (DLD) — first pilot. Existing fully-digital registry.
Real Estate General Authority (REGA). MoU planned 2026 Q3.
HM Land Registry. Building on the Digital Street pilot legacy.
Roadmap
The Foundation
UNIDEED is governed by an independent Board of Trustees. Operations are run by a Secretariat. Standards work happens in a Technical Committee. Strategic direction is shaped by an Advisory Council of international institutions.
3–5 members. Founders, pilot-country representatives, senior legal and IT experts.
Cadastre experts, IT architects, lawyers. Owns the specification and the country-profile process.
Representatives from international institutions providing strategic guidance.
Funding model
A transparent, country-based model. The standard itself is always free.
Annual member dues fund the Foundation, the Secretariat and outreach.
Token contributions. Adoption costs must never be a barrier.
World Bank, UN-Habitat, EU digitisation grants for pilot integrations.
Ready to make property borderless?
If you represent a national land registry, a regulator, or an international institution, we'd like to hear from you. The pioneer round of pilot countries is open through 2026.