HM Land Registry was one of the beneficiaries of the spending spree announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak last week. HM Treasury’s budget Red Book reveals that the body’s spending will rise by 19.7% in cash terms over the next three years, to £383.7m in 2024-25.

The money, which is retained from fees, will help the registry accelerate its digital programme. Eddie Davies, deputy director, digital services, last month announced the introduction of digital applications, entered directly into Land Registry systems by applicants. Such applications are automatically checked against the register and for fee errors before they are submitted, reducing the risk of mistakes. 

Land registry

The money will help the registry accelerate its digital programme

Source: Alamy

‘By automating where possible, we free up more of our people’s time and expertise to work on complex cases which will aid us in reducing the backlog and improving service speeds,’ Davies said. ‘Digital applications are currently seeing a 25% drop in requisitions for charge/transfer and transfer-only applications – and we expect to improve that even further.

‘Ultimately, this is what our work on digital applications has been about: improving our speed of service, reducing the backlog, and making application submission quicker and easier.’

An HM Land Registry spokesperson told the Gazette: ‘Our spending review settlement allows us to move forward with our plans to deliver what our customers tell us they need, more consistency and speed in our service delivery.’