Broxbourne in Hertfordshire is accustomed to making news as the home of the world's largest newspaper printing plant - but today it made the news when its council became the 100th local authority to migrate its local land charges (LLC) data to the national Local Land Charges Register.
Mark Kelso, Local Land Charges Programme Director, said:
Achieving a century is a significant milestone but our attention is fixed firmly on the 122 local authorities we are currently working with to migrate. The more that join the service, the greater our impact in making the conveyancing process quicker and simpler.
Accessing LLC information is an essential part of the conveyancing process for hundreds of thousands of UK property buyers annually. Early identification of these statutory restrictions helps to minimise transaction failures. Late access to this information can cause chains to fail, costing buyers historically up to £2,700 per transaction.
The migration of all 300+ local authority LLC services in England and Wales to the national register remains our goal.
The big picture
Since the programme was launched in 2018, more than 6.5 million data items across England and Wales have been cleansed, digitised and standardised. This enables property buyers, and anyone else interested in the data, to obtain it quickly and simply. Today nearly 1.1 million searches have been conducted in migrated areas, saving users more than £2.2 million in search costs. And the time taken to obtain LLC information has fallen from an average 12.5 days to instantaneous.
As more local authority registers are migrated, customers are using the data to innovate and improve efficiencies within their organisations. Historic England's National Heritage list is the only official, up to date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England. Previously, maintaining its accuracy meant cross-checking it against individual local authority records. Now it's possible to compare the list directly with live service register data in migrated areas. Historic England and HM Land Registry continue to work together to identify and rectify any anomalies. This has improved the accuracy and verification speed of sites listed in migrated areas.
Wider programme benefits
Data is increasingly becoming a fuel for the economy, stimulating innovations that lead to social and economic growth. The digitisation of important stages of the conveyancing process is instrumental to enhancing service delivery. Mortgage Strategy said:
The UK's system, rooted in the Law of Property Act 1925, is fragmented and reliant on numerous practitioners performing manual processes. It means lenders and conveyancers alike are confronted by capacity issues that hold them back from delivering the service they seek to provide.
Frustrated with the slow conveyancing process, Home Sale Pack is taking direct action. Founded by solicitors, the group worked with the National Innovation Centre for Data to research how they could reduce the rate of aborted transactions and processing times. The result was a new platform which collates and validates all registered documentation needed for a property sale. By presenting vital LLC information with other property documents upfront, conveyancers, homebuyers and everyone involved in the property sale can make informed decisions at the start of the transaction - saving all parties time.
Ruth Beeton, Co-founder of Home Sales Pack, said:
We want to reset the legal profession, by providing conveyancers with all the information they need to conduct a property sale upfront. This will allow them to focus on the legal role and deliver the outstanding service customers deserve.
It is forecast that, when the programme completes the migration of all local authority LLC data, the social and economic benefits will outstrip programme costs. Already migrated local authorities are using and sharing best practice to improve departmental efficiency. One local authority realised that conditions associated to home improvement grants were unenforceable because the charges were not registered. A disconnect between their finance team who issued those grants and the LLC registration teams meant thousands of pounds could not be legally recovered if the homeowner broke the agreement terms. The issue was identified by HM Land Registry's Service Performance Integration team during routine data analysis. It was resolved when the digitised LLC data was integrated into the authority's system, automating the manual process.
Maria Harris, Chair, Open Property Data Association, said:
The digitisation and transformation of local authority LLC data by HM Land Registry is a great example of how to approach the open exchange of property related data. The approach they have taken is the first of its kind for UK property data and shows how key information for a home buying transaction can be reformed through FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data standards.
Delivering change in the right way is as important as the change. Our systems undergo rigorous testing to ensure the design, build and usability align with the exacting Government Digital Service (GDS) standards. Recently the Search for Local Land Charges service passed the GDS live assessment, which is conducted by a panel of experts. It is a testament to the dedication of our teams and the focus on continuous improvement that enabled the service to pass this robust assessment.
Across the industry and government, the benefits of the LLC Programme have been recognised with multiple awards. Our continued digitisation of the conveyancing process is bringing benefit to everyone involved in the buying and selling of property.
Broxbourne makes it a century - Mark Kelso, Local Land Charges Programme Director
