£26m to help local authorities speed up data transfers

Steve Barclay has announced the creation of a £26 million fund to help deliver a faster property search service for homebuyers through a national Local Land Charges Register.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury says that the funding will make the government’s target of migrating all local authorities in England and Wales onto the central register by 2025 more achievable and will ensure the homebuying process becomes quicker and simpler for everyone.

Local authorities who transfer their local land charges data to our Local Land Charges Register within an agreed timescale will receive transition payments. In addition they will continue to receive existing burdens payments. This means the overall financial support available to local authorities is now more than £40 million.

All local authorities who migrate their LLC service to the central register will qualify for a payment when they meet their scheduled milestones. This will give them greater financial certainty that they can meet incidental costs, when seamlessly moving their service to the LLC Register.

Karina Singh, HM Land Registry Director of Transformation, said: “We understand the uncertain economic landscape facing many local authorities and the resourcing issues this creates. In the UK, property remains one of the single largest investments many people make. We want to help buyers get the information they need, in a faster and simpler manner.

“Research suggests that six per cent of property transactions fail, costing between £700 and £2,700 per transaction. By enabling earlier access to LLC information these costs should reduce, making the conveyancing process better for all parties.”