In 2022/23 HM Land Registry prepared itself for the challenges of the future while stepping up its efforts to further meet the needs of customers today, as described in our Annual Report and Accounts published today (18 July 2023).
We laid the groundwork for the years to come by publishing our Business Strategy 2022+ and Business Plan 2022 to 2025, making significant changes to our internal structure and developing our design principles for greater automation of customers' applications.
Improvements to our speed of service remained our top priority, with our additional capability - including recruiting more than 450 caseworkers - helping to boost our output by 12% compared with 2021-22. After going 'digital by default' in November, almost 90% of applications are now received entirely digitally, up from 70% a year ago.
We also continued to work with our partners in government and the property industry to create a more efficient property market for all.
Other highlights of the year include:
- receiving the millionth application to our Digital Registration Service
- 34 more local authorities joining our national Local Land Charges digital register, bringing the total to 74
- 430,000 downloads of our datasets - a fourfold increase over the last 3 years
Chief Land Registrar and Chief Executive Simon Hayes said:
Our top priority is to increase output to meet the demands of a market which has remained buoyant throughout all of the unpredictable events of the last 3 years.
While the vast majority of customer requests are delivered promptly, we still need to improve our speed of service and remove delays on certain types of applications. However, our trajectory in this area remains positive.
We are also working collaboratively with the market to digitise the overall conveyancing process. A drive away from paper-based systems will make the process of buying and selling property faster, more transparent and more efficient for everyone involved.
