Land Registry plans to streamline the completion process will increase solicitors’ costs and make conveyancing less efficient, the Law Society has warned.

The new ‘early completion’ practice applies where an application for a discharge of whole has been received along with other applications, but without evidence of the discharge. From 3 August, the Land Registry will complete individual applications where it is possible to do so rather than rejecting the whole package. Entries relating to the existing charge will be left in the register until proof of satisfaction is received.

The registry – under pressure to cut costs – estimates that delayed discharges and the subsequent requisitioning required cost it at least £3.5m a year.

Joe Timothy, director of legal services, said dispositions should be reflected in the register as soon as possible after they have taken place, and the interests of buyers and sellers should not be put at risk by a refusal to register their transfers and charges because of delays in the completion of discharges of prior charges.

‘Early completion will provide protection in registration, which will make buying and selling property more certain and thus help to prevent fraud. Early completion will also remove the opportunity for fraud where the seller who currently retains legal title uses it to obtain new loans after the sale of the property,’ he said.

The Law Society opposed the change, saying the costs of lenders’ failure to issue prompt discharges would be borne disproportionately by solicitors and, ultimately, by their clients. It suggested the Land Registry instead put pressure on lenders who cause delays. Peter Rodd, chairman of the Law Society’s property section, said: ‘Potentially this could be an absolute nightmare, especially where an existing mortgage is protected by a restriction. Solicitors will need to consider the timing of their application for registration to avoid the buyer and a new mortgage lender losing their ­priority.’