This follows the confirmed partnership between the land registering service and software company Methods, which plans to harness blockchain platform Corda for phase two of the agency’s research and development project.
On the project called Digital Street, Farrant said: “Our ambition to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, ease of use and an open approach to data requires HM Land Registry to be at the forefront of global innovation in land registration.”
The agency’s Digital Street will work with the industry to understand how the innovative use of technology, such as blockchain, distributed ledgers and smart contracts, could revolutionise the land registration and property buy-sell process.
John Reynolds, Blockchain Digital’s innovation and delivery director, said: “Digital Street and blockchain has the potential to synchronise and optimise the way all participants in the property market interact, from solicitors to banks, from surveyors to estate agents.”
External events
He said HM Land Registry’s commitment to open data and open innovation will drive a programme of innovation and collaboration events.
The Digital Street project has produced a digital register for a small selection of properties, which is a first step towards establishing a register that is fully machine-readable and able to be updated instantly.
The first digital mortgage was signed in April using HM Land Registry’s ‘Sign your mortgage deed’ service by Coventry BS customers and Enact Conveyancing.
HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4trn, with 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for more than 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.
