Land Registry owner must commit to delivering central Local Land Charges register

Data inspection iStock 000008204804XSmall 146x219A new owner of the Land Registry would be expected to commit to making progress on delivering a central register of Local Land Charges, the Government has said as it launched a consultation on moving Land Registry operations into the private sector.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (DBIS) said the Government anticipated that a consultation would be launched shortly regarding some of the rules of the new Local Land Charges service.

“It will use its expertise to consolidate and digitise the data held by individual local authorities into a single register, and then deliver a better service for customers. Under private sector ownership, it is expected that a new owner will commit to making progress on delivering this central register of Local Land Charges. This will become part of the core statutory functions of Land Registry and will be one of the Registers remaining under government ownership,” DBIS said.

The Department said the purpose of the consultation in relation to moving Land Registry functions into the private sector was to:

  • set out the Government’s rationale for proposing change in the status quo;
  • propose how a private sector Land Registry would work, which elements would remain within government, and the controls and safeguards that would be in place to maintain standards;
  • share DBIS’ thinking on possible models for the future of Land Registry; and
  • seek views on the proposals, especially on the Government’s preferred option.

DBIS said: “A sale of Land Registry could allow government to pay down debt, or enable other investment for the benefit of taxpayers.

“It is expected that a move into the private sector would also allow Land Registry to become even more efficient. At the same time it could continue with an appropriate level of service to support the property market.”

A copy of the consultation paper can be viewed here. The deadline for responses to the consultation is 26 May 2016.

The Department stressed that the various registers – the Land Register, the Land Charges Register, the Bankruptcy Register and the Agricultural Credits Register – would continue to be owned by government.

However, the consultation paper said the Government believed that, with the right protections in place, there was no need for the core functions of the Land Registry to be delivered by civil servants.

“Subject to a value for money assessment, the balance lies in favour of a sale, releasing resource that can be used elsewhere for the public benefit. This is the primary driver for change,” it added.

The paper said the Land Registry needed to further modernise and digitise its services, and required investment to ensure the capability and technologies were in place to combat and minimise the risk of property registration fraud.

DBIS said this could be done in the public sector but suggested that a new owner “could bring new knowledge and investment into the organisation and could ensure Land Registry accelerates its transformation into a more efficient and effective service delivery organisation with clear contractual obligations and controls to meet appropriate standards.”

The consultation paper suggested that the Land Registry could also take on additional responsibilities, particularly with respect to other existing, or newly proposed government registers. DBIS said that in addition to the Land Registry taking on responsibility for Local Land Charges from individual local authorities, there were other opportunities to take on further registers, including some outside the UK, and the proposed change could create conditions for them to do so.

But the PCS union said major concerns remained about the plans. “The Land Registry is successful, popular and trusted; it is self-financing and crucial to the property market; and no case can be made for putting this at risk by introducing the profit motive into the sensitive area of state registration of land.”

It also claimed that “the overwhelming strength of feeling against privatisation” had been seen in the number of people – nearly 140,000 – who had signed solicitor James Ferguson's 38 degrees petition to call on Chancellor George Osborne to stop the privatisation.