On-line conveyancing in England and Wales

The Government has invested the sum of £1.5m in developing a new system of on-line conveyancing for England and Wales. It hopes that the current system for buying and selling a property in these countries will be overhauled – but gives a time scale for doing so of between five and ten years. The property registration requirements will also be simplified.

The system aims to:

- reduce the time taken between "handshake" and "exchange of contracts";

- reduce transaction costs to conveyancers and therefore to citizens;

- remove some of the anxiety and uncertainty experienced by citizens engaged in land and property transactions; and

- link the conveyancing and registration processes more closely by removing, in most cases, the "registration gap", the period between completion of the transaction and registration of the new owner.

Peter Collis, Chief Land Registrar and Chief Executive at the Land Registry, said:

"This is excellent news for the Land Registry and for all the other participants in this exciting project. By abolishing paper, and conducting conveyancing on-line, this programme of work aims to make a real improvement to the way that property is bought and sold."
This document is for general guidance and research purposes only, and does not purport to give professional advice. Please check the date at the top of the article; the Workplace Law Network retains historic articles for general research.