Mandatory digital service announced by Land Registry
The Digital Registration Service on the HM Land Registry portal was launched in April 2021, with the Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar, Simon Hayes, reporting that more than 100,000 applications have been received and processed via this service. The time taken to process and complete transactions using the service (in which details are entered directly into the portal, basic errors are checked and then an e-AP1 is created for submission) has reduced registration by half, and requisitions on basic errors have been reduced by 25%. The plan is still for all applications to update the register to be via the Digital Registration Service by spring 2022.
HM Land Registry is now going one step further, announcing this week that “From November 2022 we will no longer accept scanned or PDF copies of AP1s for changes to existing titles via the HM Land Registry portal”. The Law Gazette estimates that currently fewer than 10% of title change applications are made using the digital service. Digitization should make things easier for both conveyancers and the general public, although the risk of fraud still needs to be considered. Views from conveyancers are sought.
Posted on 11/12/2021 by Ortolan
