Lambeth council are the latest local authority to migrate their information to HM Land Registry’s (HMLR) digital local land charges (LLC) register.
Over the past 14 months seven local authorities have fully digitised their systems using HMLR.
After Warwick District Council migrated in August 2018, Liverpool City Council, the City of London Corporation, Blackpool Council, Council of the Isles of Scilly, Norwich and now Lambeth have all made the digital move.
Lambeth Council pride themselves on being at the forefront of local authorities embracing digital systems to improve the home buying and selling process and are ‘pleased to help speed up property transactions’.
Some have been critical of the time it takes to migrate a local authority but HMLR has viewed the inaugural year of LLC as a successful enterprise that has hit a number of inevitable speed bumps whilst updating historic records and archaic systems.
The information is also stored in a variety of formats with each presenting new problems for successful migration. Paper versions can be thin, crumpled and difficult to read which adds to the time it takes to digitise the data. Electronic, microfiche and digital versions also take time to digest.
Because the information has been more difficult to transfer than originally predicted, HMLR decided to reduce the number of LA migrations in 2019 to ensure the migrations were completed properly.
Whilst they are committed to providing a quality service, refusing to compromise on the extensive 40 item checklist, HMLR are unlikely to meet their targets by the end of 2020. However, they have the opportunity to revitalise a system that can considerably delay the home buying process.
The latest migration highlights a determination to provide a fast, reliable digital system which will improve the home buying and selling process for all stakeholders.
Councillor Andy Wilson, Lambeth Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, said: “
Lambeth is the fourth most densely populated borough in London which means we have a huge variety of different kinds of charges, both residential and commercial.
“These include many world-famous tourist attractions such as the London Eye, the Imperial War Museum and Lambeth Palace.
“We are pleased to be at the forefront of this digital transformation which will help speed up property transactions for all customers.”
Karina Singh, Director of Transformation at HM Land Registry, said:
“Colleagues at Lambeth Council and HM Land Registry have worked closely together to migrate their complex and large dataset to our national digital LLC Register.
“The transfer of Lambeth’s service marks a significant milestone in the Government’s ambition to make home buying faster, simpler and cheaper for everyone.”
