WIREDGOV

HM Treasury is providing additional financial support for councils migrating their local land charges service to HM Land Registry.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, has announced the creation of a £26 million fund to help deliver a faster property search service for homebuyers in England and Wales through a national Local Land Charges Register.

Last December, we shared our ambition to migrate all local authorities in England and Wales onto the central register by 2025. This funding makes that target 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 (LLC) 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.

Karina Singh, HM Land Registry Director of Transformation, yesterday 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 6% 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.

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.

For more information visit our Local Land Charges Programme page.