Land Registry claims significant step in provision of digital register for Local Land Charges
The first group of local authorities have begun to provide data for the new Local Land Charges (LLC) Register in advance of its launch later this year.
HM Land Registry said this comprises the first phase of populating the digital register, which will use data from local authorities to provide prospective purchasers with information on properties throughout England and Wales.
It has been built with digital solutions company Kainos under a contract agreed in autumn 2016.
The data will make the results of online searches available in a range of formats, including PDF, XML and JSON.
Among the councils taking part in phase one are Blackpool, City of London, the Isles of Scilly, Liverpool, Norwich and Warwick. Land Registry said this will establish the foundations for a national LLC service and help it understand how it can speed up the further migration of local authorities’ LLC records.
Quick access
Graham Farrant, chief executive and chief land registrar, said: “In today’s world, people expect to be able to access government information online quickly and easily, and for a reasonable fee. A national Local Land Charges service will achieve that.
“HM Land Registry has a track record for modernising land related systems and is very pleased to be taking on the delivery of the national Local Land Charges digital register. This is a significant step forward in the Government’s ambition to make the house buying process simpler, faster and cheaper.”
Most LLCs are restrictions or obligations such as listed status, tree preservation orders or notice of a conservation area, searches for which are normally required when buying a property.
Each local authority currently maintains its own LLC register, with records held in a variety of formats including paper, and the prices for their searches range from £3 to £76. Also, it can take up to 30 days to deliver a search result.
The creation of the national LLC Register is aimed at making the process consistent and much faster, and Land Registry has forecast it could benefit up to 125,000 homebuyers in 2018-19.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
