HM Land Registry’s yearly Working Together report has shown an increase in applications, with 18,000 daily requests to update and change titles.
The Land Registry have processed 56.6 million service requests and 4.26 million register change applications of which over 300K were fast-tracked within 10 working days.
A total of 22 additional local authorities migrated to the Local Land Charges Register. The Land Registry says the increase in activity is due to an ‘active property market’. Their focus from a customer service perspective was speeding up service requests and processing times but have acknowledged there is ‘more to do’.
Simon Hayes, Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar:
“In the last year, we saw positive results in terms of our processing times, improving the average speed of service and reducing the age of our oldest applications.
“Our total output over the year was up seven per cent.”
Despite positive movements forward Mr Hayes says they ‘appreciate the impact’ of lengthy applications. He continued:
“It’s still taking us longer to process some applications than we or our customers would expect, and I fully appreciate the impact this can have. That’s why improving our service will continue to remain, our number one priority.”
Measures have been put in place to ‘help customers’- including a recruitment drive leading to 300 more caseworkers, and a surge in promotions to manage complex applications. The government body claims that work on the Local Land Charges Register since 2018 has ‘saved customers £1.9million due to cheaper search fees and ‘6,000 years of time’ waiting for search results.
Feedback from customers prompted a function portal to be introduced for users to submit colleagues applications and transfer applications between colleagues.
The Land Registry have said they have been ‘instrumental in bringing experts together to form the new Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG).’
The group’s purpose is to accelerate the adoption of digital technology and collaborate for a more transparent, secure and consumer-friendly property market, according to their site.
The registry organised the Digital Property Market conference in September 2023, with more than 270 sector and government guests feeding back on how the process for buying and selling property could be improved.
One Response
The pressure is on land registry. Hiking fees for OC1’s, OC2’s etc. by an unprecedented and inflation busting 133% means we will be holding you to account quickly and seriously. I fear however that like the NHS the Land Registry is broken and needs reform. Throwing extra money at the Land Registry I doubt will fix the underlying issues.