Buying and owning a grave

Normally, your funeral director will help to make the necessary arrangements for buying a grave.

However, if you are making your own arrangements you can contact us and we will assist you with the process.

Like many other London and city councils, we have limited grave space in our cemeteries. At present, there are no new burials at Paddington Old Cemetery and both Alperton and Willesden New Cemetery are almost full.

Although we can’t offer a pre-selection service, we can arrange for you to view where the grave is located and you can decide whether to choose a front row grave (which can be more expensive) or a space located near trees or car parking spaces.

If you would like to view the section of the cemetery where the burial is to take place before the funeral, contact us and we will arrange for a member of staff to meet with you on the site.

When you purchase a grave plot, we will send you the Exclusive Right of Burial (also known as the deed). This will include the details of the grave owner, the cemetery, the burial section, the plot number and the timescale of the deed. In Brent, the rights of burial are leased for 50 years.

Once you receive your deed, keep it in a safe place as you will need it if you want to arrange any future burials in this grave.  We cannot provide a copy of the Exclusive Rights of Burial.

Typically, each plot can hold two full burials (also known as interments). However this can vary depending on the nature of the ground in each cemetery.

In addition to your maximum number of full burials, you can usually also bury up to six additional cremated remains.

If you are the registered grave owner and you move house, it is your responsibility to contact us with the change of address details. This allows us to update the grave register should we need to contact you.

Grave ownership is not automatically passed on to the next of kin. If the owner of the grave passes, ownership of the grave will need to be transferred to another person. A transfer of ownership will need to be completed and witnessed by a solicitor or Commissioner of Oaths.

We can help you through this process. There is a fee to transfer the right of burial.

New memorials, additions to original memorials or burials, except that of the original grave owner, are not allowed until the rights of burial have been transferred.