The Land Registry has launched an online service offering cheap and easy public access to information held on 19 million properties across England and Wales.

The service allows citizens to search the register to find out prices, ownership details and registration plans on a specified property.

This week's launch comes after a two-year trial, in which 560,000 documents were downloaded and more than £1m of the service's £1.3m costs generated. At the site's busiest, 1,500 documents were downloaded per day.

The system is the world's largest online transactional database, says the Land Registry.

Using the online service gives instant access to information that the existing telephone and in-person service can take several days to provide. Online applications for information also cost half the price of paper-based requests.

Land Registry Online is part of the agency's overall egovernment strategy. It follows the 2000 launch of the Land Registry Direct service, which provides online access to property information for professionals such as estate agents and solicitors.

There are also plans for an online conveyancing system to be introduced in phases over the coming months.