Helping the HM Land Registry shape the future of conveyancing

Researchers from the HM Land Registry (HMLR) have visited Wards Solicitors' conveyancing team to gain a valuable insight into how lawyers currently order and obtain Local Land Charges (LLC) information in the course of their work.

They will use this information to help create a user and business-friendly LLC register, an entirely new digital and automated search facility.

At the moment, every local authority in the land maintains its own register of charges affecting the land and property in its area which means a huge difference in what searches cost, ranging from just £3 up to about £76, and a vast disparity in turnaround times, from one day to 20 days.

Largest HMLR transformational programme undertaken

The programme, the largest ever undertaken by the HMLR, will eventually replace the current system with a single digital service, with all local authority data transferred over in stages.

Its aim is to standardise information, make access to this information easier and ensure a simpler, speedier conveyancing process with average fees significantly lower than they are currently.

Shaping the new system

HMLR staff will visit as many of the 326 local authorities as possible as well as firms like Wards Solicitors across the country to help them shape an easy-to-use system that is useful to conveyancers, solicitors, local authorities and search companies alike.

Wards Solicitor's head of Conveyancing, Susan Ellis, said she had been delighted to help. "I was happy to extend the invitation to the HMLR to assist them with this," she commented. "Hopefully it is something that will eventually be of benefit to the profession as a whole."

Wards Solicitors has a highly experienced Conveyancing team across all 11 offices.