In a blog published on the HM Land Registry website, Mark Kelso, Local Land Charges Programme Director, shared his views on delivering local land charges and planning for the future.
He writes:
“Back in March, I was asked to lead HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme. I can recall the excitement of having the opportunity to work on a programme that has so much to offer; a programme that has the potential to deliver a step change improvement in how we deal in property across the country. By the time I joined the programme in April we were in lockdown, so I’ve not yet physically met most of the team, but I’ve been blown away by their commitment and adaptability.”
The aim of the LLC team if to transform and digitise more than 25 million data items from more than 300 LLC registers across England and provide a single, simple-to-use digital service for homebuyers. The have been doing this by working with local authorities.
What does the future hold?
In delivering the local land charges service, the team is hoping that the speed of the process once it’s on a central digital register will be increased.
In his blog, Mark Kelso writes:
“Laying the foundations for this new approach will provide significant benefits. Working with local authorities in specific areas means that management and coordination between HM Land Registry and local authorities flows naturally. Migrating wider regions allows local authorities to share knowledge and support each other through the experience – something we’ve already found very beneficial to the process. We will also provide greater benefit to customers and Local Enterprise Partnerships, many of whom operate in regions that span local authority boundaries.
“This ties in with the benefits that the programme will bring on a national, regional and local scale. The government recognises that providing delivery at a greater pace is more important now than it has ever been for the UK economy. Citizens and communities need to access high quality digital services quickly. Improving the LLC service will make it easier and quicker for infrastructure and housing developers to make informed decisions about their projects with the immediate availability of LLC data. These improvements will also benefit individual property buyers to find out important information on a property and make informed decisions about the purchase more quickly.
“Rolling out our new approach continues our commitment to be as focussed on our customers and users as possible. As well as local authorities, we have worked with Local Enterprise Partnerships and our LLC advisory board to ensure that the feedback of everyone is taken on board.”
Work is continuing to ensure more local authorities are added to the register.
