Conveyancing membership body the Society of Licensed Conveyancers has thrown its weight behind calls for a review of the current HM Land Registry approach to qualified electronic signatures (QES).
Concerns were raised this week over guidance that accompanies the use of QES, specifically around the requirement for all parties to sign the same electronic document with QES and the extension of HMLR’s Safe Harbour Scheme to QES.
The SLC says it raised the same concerns in 2025.
The body says it continues to support the adoption of QES, but does not accept the criticism that conveyancers are resistant to its adoption.
Chairperson of the SLC Simon Law said: “The Society remains fully supportive of digital transformation within conveyancing. Our concern has never been with qualified electronic signatures themselves, but with how they operate in practice. Any solution must work not just in straightforward transactions, but in the complex and often unpredictable situations that conveyancers encounter every day.
“Conveyancers are not resisting innovation. They are managing legal risk, protecting consumers and ensuring that transactions remain robust if later challenged. We look forward to working constructively with HM Land Registry and industry stakeholders to develop a framework that delivers both security and practicality.”
The SLC points to the way conveyancers have contended with digital identity verification, electronic onboarding, online case tracking and electronic submission of applications in a short space of time as examples of innovation in the profession.
In a robust defence, they added: “Conveyancing involves more than the collection of signatures. Practitioners routinely deal with changing client instructions, disputed authority, questions around capacity, family pressures, ownership disputes and transactions that may become contentious long after completion. In such circumstances, conveyancers carry significant professional obligations and potential liability.”
The issue is not whether QES is secure, the SLC said, but whether the current framework aligns with the legal and evidential realities of property transactions.
Successful digital reform must be designed around the realities of legal practice rather than solely around technical workflow considerations, the SLC argues.
The society is calling for HMLR to consider greater flexibility in execution requirements, practical solutions for mixed-signature environments, clear evidential protections for practitioners, alignment between digital identity standards and execution requirements, and recognition of complex multi-party conveyancing scenarios.
The SLC said it will continue to engage with HM Land Registry and industry partners to support the development of digital execution processes that are secure, proportionate and capable of widespread adoption.
