Search agents call on Government to halt Land Registry Land Charges project
The Association of Independent Professional Search Agents (IPSA) has urged the Government to halt a move to centralise land charges in a new digital database because of “huge numbers of errors in the system”.
The project concerns Local Authority Land Charges data being migrated to a central digital register held by HM Land Registry (HMLR).
The search agents argue that this move has led to “thousands of mistakes in the data being stored and helped create new delays in conducting property searches”.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, sent yesterday (23 August), IPSA wrote: “IPSA as an organisation, alongside many of its individual members, has tried to work with HMLR to ensure that the digital register is as good as it can possibly be. However, our advice and input has been largely ignored.
“With each new migration it is becoming more and more apparent that there are thousands of discrepancies, errors, omissions and inconsistencies.”
The Association revealed that a survey of IPSA members showed that most of those taking part were “not happy with the results of the new HMLR digital search system”.
The survey found that more than half (58 per cent) said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the accuracy of the new tool, and 66 per cent were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the consistency of the results they got from it.
Five years after the project was launched, land charges information from 77 local authorities has been transferred to the central digital database, with the aim of speeding up and simplifying property searches.
IPSA chairman Andrew Prismall said the hoped-for improvements from HMLR digitisation following IPSA’s input and advice have “failed to materialise”, with many search agents reporting slower response times and inaccurate results.
He said: “It is now five years since the first local authority migrated its land charges data to the HMLR digital register and a celebratory newsletter to highlight the milestone is about to be released. However, with only 77 local authorities live to date – less than a quarter of the total – it doesn’t feel as though there is much to celebrate at all.
“With each new migration it is becoming more and more apparent that there are thousands of discrepancies, errors, omissions and inconsistencies. In many areas, the information has to be treated as “unrefined data” and takes so much time and effort to be deemed acceptable for use in professional search reports.
“It is clear that the current system is not producing the results anyone wants, so we are asking the Government to halt the process whilst improvements are made.”
A spokesperson for HM Land Registry said: "HMLR Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is committed to working with local authorities to transform all LLC services in England and Wales into a single national, digital LLC register. We are already engaging with IPSA and have offered to meet with their Board members to discuss their concerns in more detail.
"Completing the migration of these services will drive data transparency and innovation in the UK property sector. Through geospatial data, billions of pounds worth of value for the UK economy will be unlocked over the long term, benefitting buyers, sellers, lenders, and anyone requiring the data.
"HM Land Registry operates stringent data quality standards and we are working with local authorities to improve the quality of the data they transfer into the national register. We are dedicated to addressing all issues that impact data quality standards while delivering a 21st – century service for our customers."
Lottie Winson
