The land registry and the property alert service

Most people have heard of the Land Registry, but what is it, and what does it do? Here, we look to provide insights.

The Land Registry is a non-ministerial government department created in 1862. They advise that their vision is “A world-leading property market as part of a thriving economy and a sustainable future” and that their purpose is “We protect your land ownership and provide services and data that underpin an efficient and informed property market.”

Their responsibilities are to provide:

• “a reliable record of information about ownership of and interests affecting land and property
• owners with a land title, guaranteed by the government
• a title plan that indicates general boundaries”

The Land Registry are an important part of the conveyancing process and are involved in the whole conveyancing transaction from the beginning to the end, whether it be obtaining Land Registry documents, searches or making applications. 

How does the Land Registry’s digital system assist the conveyancing process?

As solicitors, the Land Registry help us on a daily basis, and with more and more information becoming electronic, we are able to access information quicker and easier than before. The Land Registry now approximate that over 88% of properties are registered, and this means that we are able to locate deeds and documents quickly, and they are available electronically for download.

As properties are registered, more documents will be available online, and we will be less reliant on paper deeds, which can sometimes be lost or difficult to locate where they have been left with a solicitor’s firm, banks or kept personally. Also, if someone passes away, as an executor, you may not know where the deeds are located, and this can make the selling process more difficult.

The Land Registry also have a number of digital tools that conveyancers are able to use to make the process quicker again; this can be anything from making applications digitally and checking the progress of applications to a free service to check if properties are registered.

The Land Registry are also looking to make more processes digital in order to make the conveyancing process quicker. This has included approaching Local Authorities to centralise the information used in Local Searches to speed up this process. At present, over 80 Local Authorities have now been transferred to the Land Registry’s digital service, which means that their data for part of the search process is in one place, making it cheaper, quicker and easier to access. 

How does the Land Registry help me protect my property?

Properties can be at risk for a number of reasons, including if –

• your identity’s been stolen
• you rent out your property
• you live overseas
• the property’s empty
• the property is not mortgaged
• the property is not registered with the Land Registry

If any of the above apply to you, you may consider signing up to the Land Registry’s digital Property Alert Scheme. It is a free scheme run by the Land Registry and allows you to monitor if there has been any significant activity on a property that you have recorded an alert against. This could be a registration of a mortgage, another application or significant. The service will not prevent fraud but will alert you to potentially fraudulent activity should someone make an application and provide you with the contact details of the party making the application.

If you wish to consider using the alert scheme, a link to the Gov website is as follows - Property Alert - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This blog is part of Birkett Long's National Conveyancing Week celebrations. If you would like to discuss our conveyancing services, please get in touch. I can be contacted on 01206 217368 or via email at [email protected]