New digital land register launched in England

A new digital Local Land Charges (LLC) Register has been launched in England as the latest step in the Government’s plans to make the home buying process simpler, faster and cheaper.

The Land Registry’s new digital register follows the launch of the first digital mortgage in April and both mark a milestone in the use of digital technology and data innovation to provide quicker services for buyers and sellers.

Warwick District Council’s data will be the first to be available. It means that anyone requiring local land charge searches in the local authority area of Warwick will need to get them from the Land Registry rather than going to the council.

‘Buying a house is the biggest financial investment of people’s lives. By centralising and digitising the local land charges information of local authorities in England we are helping to improve conveyancing,’ said Graham Farrant, chief Land Registrar.

‘Search results from the new register will be instantly available in a standard, easy to read format. This is another significant step forward in the Government’s ambition to make the home buying process simpler, faster and cheaper,’ he added.

Warwick District Council’s chief executive Chris Elliott said that the technology will not onl help buyers and sellers but also the council’s planning team.

The Land Registry is working in partnership with up to 26 local authorities in England this year to migrate their LLC data to a central, digital register in a phased approach. Once the data is migrated, anyone will be able to get instant online search results via GOV.UK.

The Land Registry pointed out that it will keep customers informed when each local authority’s LLC records are migrated to the new digital register.