A new direct service courtesy of HM Land Registry is hoping to save both clients and conveyancers hours by directly updating lenders about applications. The service allows lenders to monitor the progress of their mortgage registration. Currently, HM Land Registry answers 20,000 calls a month from lenders checking on applications, so this new development should save the industry millions of pounds a year as well as giving wasted time back to conveyancers and improving the efficiency of clients’ applications.
The participants in the pilot are a selection of 10 banks including NatWest, Lloyds, Santander and Barclays, which should represent 85% of residential lending in the UK. The combined work of banks, HM Registry and lenders has allowed the production of a tool that is promised to help conveyancers, clients and lenders alike, saving invaluable time and money.
The service will work by providing lenders with direct access to all application data and enable them to view an application’s status. Each lender will receive a unique ‘MD’ reference that allows this. As well as general access, lenders will also receive a weekly update. If the pilot proves to be successful, HM Land Registry will look to extend the scheme to include other lenders.
On a wider scale, HM Land Registry is exploring a further advancement into digital services. As well as the efforts to provide customers and clients with clarity regarding their applications and general access to resources (such as purchasing title plans and title registers), they are also working to improve the process of registering through the Digital Registration Service. Moreover, a newly updated Business Gateway enables improvements in faster registration and the quality of application data.
This movement towards improving and expanding digital services will serve to provide benefits of an easier and faster system of land registration for clients looking for services within the industry. Any improvement to Land Registry services is welcome news for clients and conveyancers alike.