HMLR Issue Statement Warning Of Delays

HMLR Issue Statement Warning Of Delays

HM Land Registry (HMLR) has issued a statement highlighting that some of their services are likely to be disrupted.

Find a property, register create applications and register update application services are set to experience significant disruptions with discharge updates facing moderate disruption in times of remote working.

Whilst HMLR are working hard to prioritise services allowing property transactions to continue as normal, the following services will face slight delays and disruptions:

  • bankruptcy searches
  • land charges searches
  • local land charges searches
  • MapSearch
  • official copies of documents
  • official searches of the index map
  • official searches of part
  • official searches of whole
  • Property Alert

HMLR will extend all current cancellation dates until 1 June 2020. Until this time, warnings and cancellations will not be issued. Requests to extend a notice period or allow a further period for making objections will also be granted, if Covid-19 is causing any issues.

A letter from Simon Hayes, chief executive of HMLR, commented:

“In these challenging times, our thoughts are with all of you who are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the difficult circumstances it is creating.

“We are working hard to minimise disruption and are prioritising the services that allow property transactions to continue. Our Business e-services are fully functional. However we are facing varying degrees of disruption and there may be some delays as we are experiencing a high volume of enquiries. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“On 26 March the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government issued guidance on the buying and selling of homes and we have supported the latest industry-wide guidance, which aims to help conveyancers assist clients and comply with the regulations and guidance on home moving.”

What common disruptions and delays have you noticed when requesting services from HMLR over the past few weeks? 

Martin Parrin

Martin is a Senior Content Writer for Today’s Conveyancer, Today’s Wills and Probate, Today’s Legal Cyber Risk and Today's Family Lawyer Having qualified as a teacher, Martin previously worked as a Secondary English Teacher that responsible for Head of Communications. After recently returning to the North West from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Martin has left teaching to start a career in writing and pursue his lifelong passion with the written word.

1 Comment

  • This morning a blogger on LR’s website seeks help to provide evidence of his Nan’s ownership of property so that his wife may return to the UK

    I have suggested that he request his MP to ask the government department to accept statements of truth in place of copy entries which are currently unavailable

    Does anyone know of similar concessions?

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