The Land Registry records ownership changes and mortgages. Around 18,000 requests per day were made to create new titles.
Alongside the 4.6 million register change services that were processed, 22.7 million official information requests were made. This was down from the nearly 23.2 million requests made in the financial year 2024/25.
Registering new ownership happens at the very end of a property transaction – after stamp duty land tax (SDLT) has been paid.
Lenders use this information for official searches, title records and registration services to securely complete mortgage transactions.
As 98% of processed applications were submitted digitally, this supported the Land Registry’s commitment to a less stressful property market.
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Digitalisation of mortgage transactions
Qualified Electronic Signatures (QESs) were the most secure form of electronic signature currently available, according to the report.
Nationwide Building Society was the first lender to submit a mortgage application using QES.
QES uses advanced identity verification technology, including biometric checks such as facial recognition, to confirm a signatory’s identity before a document is signed.
The report said this digital record protects better against fraud than the conventional witnessed signature, as the digital record cannot be altered without detection.
The Land Registry increased the automation of its highest volume register update applications to accelerate the delivery of residential mortgages.
Furthermore, it expanded the automation of single-transaction applications through its application processing engine, including the automation of the severance of joint tenancy applications.
LLC register improves home buying outcomes
Since its launch in 2018, the Local Land Charges (LLC) register has saved customers over £4.5m in search fees.
The report indicated that users saved an average of 13 days to obtain an LLC search result.
Furthermore, it migrated a total of 147 local authorities’ LLC into a unified register. The report said this had over nine million charges, information about which could improve planning and land use decisions.
The Land Registry led a pilot to investigate the benefits of providing access to building regulations and highways data to speed up conveyancing.
It said these datasets are among the most common causes of delay in property searches, contributing significantly to failed transactions, which cost buyers an estimated £400m annually.
The findings are due later this year, and the Land Registry said they will support the development of a resilient, efficient and data-driven property market for buyers, sellers and professionals alike.
