" By centralising and digitising the local land charges information of local authorities in England we are helping to improve conveyancing. "
Warwick District Council’s data will be the first to be available. Anyone requiring local land charge searches in the local authority area of Warwick from today onwards will need to get them from HM Land Registry rather than going to the council.
HM Land Registry is working in partnership with up to 26 local authorities in England this year to migrate their LLC data to a central, digital register in a phased approach.
Once the data is migrated, anyone will be able to get instant online search results via GOV.UK: Search for Local Land Charges.
HM Land Registry’s business customers can use their existing portal and Business Gateway channels.
The creation of a new digital LLC Register follows the launch of the first digital mortgage in April.
Chief executive and chief land registrar, Graham Farrant, said: "Buying a house is the biggest financial investment of people’s lives. By centralising and digitising the local land charges information of local authorities in England we are helping to improve conveyancing. Search results from the new register will be instantly available in a standard, easy-to-read format. This is another significant step forward in the Government’s ambition to make the home-buying process simpler, faster and cheaper.
"Warwick District Council is leading the way by being the first local authority to migrate their local land charges data to our new register. I look forward to more local authorities joining the central register during the year."
Warwick District Council’s chief executive, Chris Elliott, commented: "As a forward-looking council aiming to provide the best possible service to all of our customers, we very much welcome any measures which will speed up the process of buying a home. Opening up our data to HM Land Registry will be a huge benefit not only to those wishing to purchase a home or land in our district, but also to our busy planning team."
