The case, for a property in Rotherhithe, London, was lodged by Coventry Building Society and Enact Conveyancing. The two firms have been working with the Land Registry for the last couple of months testing its Sign Your Mortgage Deed service.
The service allows borrowers to sign their deed online, using the GOV.UK Verify service to securely verify their identity first. The verification service has been used by 1.9 million accounts to perform more than five million secure transactions, outside of properties, according to the government.
Land Registry says borrowers will save time as they won’t need to arrange for a witness when signing the deed nor risk losing them in the post, while the fact that it is all done online should mean that the process moves quicker.
The Sign Your Mortgage Deed service is part of Land Registry’s plans to introduce a greater use of technology into the conveyancing market in a bid to simplify and speed up the process.
Graham Farrant, chief executive and chief land registrar at HM Land Registry, said: “By working with partners in the industry, we have secured a simpler and faster service for the benefit of home owners. We are looking forward to rolling this out nationally and will be working with more conveyancers and lenders to do so.”
Peter Frost, chief operating officer at Coventry Building Society, said initial feedback on the process has been positive, with customers reporting it had been simple, quick and secure.
He added: “Although this initiative has started with remortgages we’re excited about the potential for it to be extended to purchases in the future.”
