Land Registry’s LLC Programme is tranforming the service

HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is bringing the service into the 21st century by transforming hundreds of local authority LLC registers into a central digital service.

HM Land Registry (HMLR) said:

“HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is transforming 314 local authority LLC registers across England into a central digital service. This eliminates local variations in price, speed and format, providing 24/7 access to LLC data.

“With 12 live local authorities on the register, gathering feedback and learning migration lessons is an important part of moving forward. As part of this process, we work with our LLC Advisory Board to gain their valuable input.

“The advisory board ensures the stakeholders’ interests are considered when developing LLC policies, services and products. It provides an opportunity for information exchange and discussion, drawing on the collective knowledge and expertise of the members. It also helps the LLC Programme with specific areas of research and plays a pivotal role in preparing organisations for business change.”

Their Advisory Board members include:

• The Council of Property Search Organisations
• The Society for Licensed Conveyancers
• Land Data
• Nationwide Building Society
• The Law Society
• Association of Independent Personal Search Agents
• City of London Corporation, representing local authorities
• Local Government Association
• The Local Land Charges Institute
• Local authorities

HMLR further added:

“In August, we worked with the advisory board to develop a more accessible and streamlined LLC search result based on their feedback. We removed adjoining registration information to ensure that our search results are simpler and easier to interpret. In working with the constituent members, we were able to gain valuable insight into the direction that our service enhancements need to take to benefit all stakeholders.

“The addition of a log-in feature when accessing migrated LLC data was introduced following feedback from our advisory board. Listening to their members, the advisory board was able to relay concerns around compensation protocols. The addition of a log-in feature provides more certainty for both local authorities and customers when considering claims for compensation, creating a more robust service.

“During the migration process, an authority’s LLC data is completely digitised and put through rigorous quality checks. This can have benefits beyond the LLC service. As the programme develops, the advisory board is helping us to explore the potential benefits of returning this cleansed data to local authorities, and how it can assist both the authority and their customers.”

Jan Boothroyd, Chief Executive, Land Data:

“As a promoter of official, electronically sourced land and property searches, Land Data joined the LLC programme advisory board as a founding member in 2015. Our deep understanding of the property search market, along with many years of expertise as the NLIS regulator, means that in addition to our local land charges knowledge, we are able to give insights and informed guidance to HM Land Registry. This enables HM Land Registry to test drive different options, which are then developed to shape the programme. Our stakeholders, local authorities and the NLIS channels feel reassured knowing their views are represented and listened to at the advisory board.”