Ten things you need to know about our performance
Highlights from our Annual Report and Accounts 2017 to 2018, including what we have done to transform our services and our plans for the future.
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1. Our services were rated as good, very good or excellent by 92% of our customers
Our customer satisfaction scores exceeded our target of 90%, and the quality of our work is at a record high. We received 32.5 million service requests with 94.8% of our applications coming through electronic channels. Our total income was £317.2 million. Read Brilliant at the basics – by design.
2. We have now registered more than 25.2 million titles
In 2017, a Northern Powergrid electricity substation in Gateshead became the 25 millionth title to be entered in the Land Register. This was a milestone in our aim to achieve comprehensive registration of land and property in England and Wales by 2030 (currently more than 85% of the land mass in England and Wales is registered). We are working with Highways England to register more than 1,000 miles of road and rail networks by 2030. Read Brilliant at the basics – by design.
3. We recruited more than 500 apprentices and registration officers
Apprentices now make up 6% of our total workforce (5,216 employees). We have also developed professional legal apprenticeships to create a clear career path up to lawyer level for everyone from new recruits to experienced colleagues. Read Brilliant at the basics – by design.
4. Our property lawyers are reshaping the law
Their work on the Land Registration Amendment Rules 2018 has enabled property transactions to happen using digital signatures. Our lawyers have also created the legal framework for local land charges information to be available from a new central digital register.
We plan to consult on how our fee structure could be improved to make processing applications more straightforward and faster. Read Our team of leading property lawyers reshaping the law.
5. We have made 9,500 changes to our IT infrastructure
Our new internal digital ‘Workflow’ system helps approximately 1,200 members of staff handle more than 5,000 applications each day. We are exploring how we can further automate routine processes. Read Digital transformation underway.
6. We have registered our first digital mortgage
Our new ‘Sign your mortgage deed’ service avoids the need for borrowers to find a witness, apply pen to paper and send the signed deed by post. This will provide a more secure service to homeowners, lenders and conveyancers. Read Digital transformation underway.
7. Our Digital Street project has produced three prototypes
Our research and development project ‘Digital Street’ produced three prototypes to explore how future property transactions may happen using technologies such as artificial intelligence. We will continue to work with the industry, members of the public, data providers, other government departments and technology start-ups, to research smart contracts, digital signatures and blockchain technology. Read Digital Street – creating positive digital disruption.
8. We have released more of our data free of charge
In November 2017, we made our Commercial and Corporate Ownership and Overseas Companies Ownership datasets available for free. This will help to improve land and property transparency, and to reduce money laundering and corruption. We had 24 customers in the year leading up to launch, which increased to more than 2,400 in the six months since launch. This is part of our target to release as much information as we can from our register by 2020.
The geospatial data in our register supports Britain’s land and property intelligence. This year, we became a founding member of the new Geospatial Commission. Read One map for the nation.
9. We have created a new Local Land Charges Register
Our new digital register will hold local land charges information, currently held by 326 local authorities.
A local land charge can be anything from a smoke control order to the historical listing of a building. They are part of the home-buying process and help mortgage lenders to understand the risks to their loans. Standardising this information in one place, and at a fixed cost, will make home-buying simpler and cheaper.
We estimate that during the first phase up to 125,000 homebuyers will benefit from the new service. Read Building a strong foundation for change.
10. We have recruited 3 new directors and 5 non-executive board members
As set out in our 5-year Business Strategy last November, we want to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data. We have recruited new directors and non-executive board members, who bring a wealth of experience to help with our transformation. Read our Chair’s statement by Michael Mire.