Qualified electronic signatures (QES) have been used to sign 1,000 mortgage deeds, in what HM Land Registry has described as “a significant milestone for digital conveyancing”.
The deeds were signed using the Remortgage iQ platform from fintech Veyco, in transactions delivered by customers of Your Conveyancer.
The first 1,000 customers have signed mortgage deeds using QES on the platform, taking an average of just two minutes and 43 seconds to complete the registration and signing stage.
The milestone provides one of the first large-scale datasets to illustrate how digital mortgage deeds perform in live UK remortgage transactions, Veyco said.
According to the fintech, the figures suggest that one of the last remaining paper-based stages of the remortgage process can now be completed in minutes rather than days, removing the need for customers to print, sign, have the deed witnessed and return it by post.
The rollout began in April 2026 as part of Nationwide Building Society’s remortgage workflow. Customers complete enhanced biometric identity verification, anti-money laundering checks and proof of address checks before applying the QES to their mortgage deed.
Sophie Blackbeard, senior product manager at Veyco, said: “The first 1,000 mortgage deeds signed using QES have given us valuable insight into how qualified electronic signatures perform in real conveyancing transactions.
“Customers are completing the registration and signing stage in under three minutes on average, replacing a process that has traditionally depended on printing, witnessing, posting and manually handling paper deeds.
“Most importantly, the data has highlighted where customers were still falling back to paper, allowing us to identify and address barriers within the customer journey. This means more customers can now complete their mortgage deed entirely digitally and gives lenders further evidence that QES can be delivered securely, efficiently and at scale.”
According to Your Conveyancer, the technology is already helping to reduce transaction times and improve the customer experience. Managing director Martin Bourke explained: “The introduction of QES has allowed us to deliver a complete digital journey for customers on re-mortgage transactions. The feedback from customers is extremely positive, saving them time and money.
“Enhanced biometric identity checks combat the possibility of mortgage fraud, reducing risk for both law firms and lenders alike. We have recently onboarded our third major lender to offer QES to its customers and expect most major lenders to follow suit in the coming months.”
Andy Roddy, HM Land Registry deputy director digital services, said: “Reaching 1,000 mortgage deeds signed using qualified electronic signatures (QES) is a significant milestone for digital conveyancing. It demonstrates that QES can deliver a genuinely faster, more secure experience for customers.
“Veyco’s milestone shows how far QES adoption has come since we began accepting these signatures in August 2025. We remain committed to working with providers and lenders to make digital signing accessible to more customers.”
Although HMLR began accepting certain deeds signed using QES in August 2025 uptake was initially slow, with just five recorded incidences in the first quarter of this year. In a statement shared with Today’s Conveyancer, HMLR said adoption would take time.
“As with any significant technological shift in a complex, regulated sector, we expected adoption to build gradually as firms configure their systems, select providers, and adapt their processes”, a spokesperson explained.
Nationwide became the first lender to allow a mortgage deed to be signed using QES in February, and in March the first live TR1 transfer deed was submitted using QES by MJP Conveyancing using Veyco’s QEST platform.
5 responses
I find this hard to believe on the basis that most lenders don’t even accept digital signatures. Are they all being done by MJP Conveyancing?
The article literally has a quote from the law firm (Your Conveyancer), confirms these were re-mortgage matters and confirms the lender is Nationwide, who do accept QES. It also has a quote from HMLR who have received this. I think you read the headline and not the actual article.
A childish comment by ‘Anonymous Dog’.
The point made is that remortgaging is not credible evidence of mass acceptance.
Who are you Anonymous Dog? Why do hide behind this title?
Has your tail been bitten?
Two minutes 43 seconds to sign a mortgage deed, with biometric ID checks baked in — arguably more secure than a wet signature witnessed at the kitchen table. The interesting bit is that fraud pressure doesn’t disappear when you digitise, it moves: as the deed gets harder to forge, the email chain around exchange and completion becomes the softest target. Great to see HMLR and Nationwide pushing this forward — where do we think the fraudsters aim next?
I can easily log in and pretend to be my dad – the elderly are most vulnerable when their assets are at stake. What happens when you are in a coercive relationship and your partner has all your log in details? (had this happen to someone I know – he completely attempted to destroy her life). Where you have 2 people re-mortgaging/borrowing more money (as per a case I came across historically in practice) – one party forged the other party’s signature to get the money and then didn’t pay the mortgage. Digitisation is going to magnify all of this and the blame will land on conveyancer’s shoulders yet again.
I can use digital TR1s, but the amount of conveyancers who do not have time to look up from the day job to learn how to do this properly will show.
It’s difficult enough to reach the Safeharbour Standard as it all depends on the device the client chooses to use.