Corporate report

Performance report

Published 12 September 2024

Applies to England and Wales

An overview of HM Land Registry

Our purpose

We protect your land ownership and provide services and data that support an efficient and informed property market.

Vision

A world-leading property market as part of a thriving economy and sustainable future.

How we serve

• Providing secure and efficient land registration
• Enabling property to be bought and sold digitally
• Providing near real-time property information
• Providing accessible digital register data
• Leading research and accelerating change with property market partners

Our values

• We have integrity
• We drive innovation
• We are professional
• We give assurance

Our primary role

For more than 160 years HM Land Registry has served as the critical institution protecting the right to property and enabling the market to operate. By keeping the definitive and guaranteed record of property ownership in England and Wales, we allow property to be transacted securely and with confidence.

The value of land and property in England and Wales is estimated at more than £8 trillion which is more than half the wealth of the nation.

The Land Register contains more than 26.7 million land and property titles, covering more than 89% of the land area of England and Wales. Access to information about land and property enables individuals, businesses and the Government to plan for future housing needs, climate change and a thriving economy.

HM Land Registry is a non-ministerial department and since 1 June 2023 has been a partner body of theDepartment for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Prior to 1 June, the Department for Business and Trade was HM Land Registry’s sponsor department. Following the General Election in July 2024 the new Government changed the department to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Due to timing, this report refers to the former department throughout.

HM Land Registry in numbers

• 56.6m Service requests (223,000 per working day)
• 207,000 Daily requests for HM Land Registry Information Services
• 62% Engagement Index Score on the 2023 People Survey
• More than 87% Digital applications to change the register which is more than 3.7m applications
• 6,993 Employees
• 5.9% Employees from ethnic minorities
• 10.4% Employees with a disability
• 32.3% Part-time
• 60.9% Female

Over the past financial year, we have:

Completed 21.2m guaranteed information services requests to keep the property market moving (99.7% within three days).

Processed 4.26m register change applications, of which more than 318,000 were fast-tracked (94% were processed within 10 working days).

Migrated the data of 22 local authorities to our Local Land Charges Register.

Our role in the property market

Market interest

• £8 trillion worth of land and property held
• 122,500 daily requests to view the register, plans, associated documents, MapSearch and Search for land and property information (SLAPI)

We hold one of the largest transactional geospatial property databases in Europe, including all secured loans and other property rights in England and Wales. Since 1990 our register has been open to the public.

We provide some of the most useful and valuable property information to support a truly data-driven economy.

Our Land Charges service can reveal whether an unregistered property has restrictions on its use. The service protects certain interests in unregistered land and we also maintain the bankruptcy index for England and Wales. Our Agricultural Credits Register provides security for lending over farm assets, such as livestock or equipment, other than the land itself.

Property transaction

• 6,000 daily official copies, official searches and official local land charge searches

Our guaranteed information and transaction services provide essential information and protection to purchasers, lenders and their professional representatives, without which the property market would not function.

After purchase and beyond

• 583 fraudulent registrations prevented since 2009
• 18,000 daily requests to update the register or create a new title

We receive around 18,000 requests per day to update the register or create a new title. This can reflect new ownership, mortgages and other rights. Registering new ownership happens at the very end of a property transaction – after stamp duty land tax has

been paid and the property has changed hands. Owners can use our Property Alert service to help protect their property from fraud.

Note: due to developing services, direct comparisons cannot be made with the corresponding section in previous annual reports.

Service requests

Information enquiry services - 30.6 million

• Search for land and property information* - 17.6 million
• Views of the register (register, plans, docs) - 6.7 million
• Title view - 5.2 million
• MapSearch* - 1.1 million

Guaranteed information services - 21.2 million

• Official copies - 18.2 million
• Searches of the index map 700,000
• Official searches - 2.3 million

Register change services - 4.4million

• Register updates - 4 million
• Transfers of part - 200,000
• New leases - 200,000
• First registrations - 100,000

*Free service

Revenue

Register change services - £229.8 million

• Register updates - £137.1 million
• Transfers of part - £52.4 million
• New leases - £26.4 million
• First registrations - £13.9 million

Guaranteed information services -£62.9 million

• Official copies - £55 million
• Searches of the index map - £1.1 million
• Official searches - £6.8 million

Information enquiry services - £20.1 million

• Views of the register (register, plans, docs, title) - £20.1 million
• Local Land Charges - £1.1 million

Other services income - £10.5 million

• Agricultural credits £5.5 million
• Commercial services £4 million

Total revenue received (including other service income) - £323.2 million

Interview with Neil Sachdev, Chair

Neil Sachdev, Chair of HM Land Registry

After your first year as HM Land Registry’s Chair, what are your overall impressions of the organisation and its role in enabling a world leading property market? 

The more I’ve learned about HM Land Registry, the more impressed I’ve been. We’re a big and busy organisation – almost 7,000 people in 14 locations processing tens of millions of applications each year – yet we’re also tight- knit and firmly rooted in our local communities. We’re very good at what we do but we need to be even better to meet our customers’ deservedly high expectations.

It’s been an exciting year for us on the national stage, helping launch the Digital Property Market Steering Group and strengthening our already close links with our new sponsor, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It’s through our partnerships with our customers and stakeholders that we’ll help the market become, and remain, world leading.

What changes do you think we can expect to see in the property market in 2024-25 and beyond?

I said in last year’s report that the future of the property market was digital. The market is gradually adapting to digital but we need comprehensive transformation rather than steady progress if we’re going to meet the growing public demand for faster home purchases. We must all move further and faster in adopting the digital tools

and processes that will make trouble-free, transparent and accurate transactions the norm. We’re collaborating across the industry to make this happen, while digitising our own services and promoting the use of our open data by the innovators and entrepreneurs who are vital to digital transformation.

We also aim to see the market working more efficiently as a result of our action to reduce our outstanding applications and deliver a faster service. As Simon sets out in his foreword, we’ve made some progress in this respect but still have more to do. We’re as determined as ever to meet the turnaround times our customers are fully entitled to expect.

How well placed do you think we are to face these changes and what will our main challenges be?

Our main challenge continues to be improving our speed of service and this may have to happen in an even more active property market than we have now. We must ensure we’re ready for anything the market may throw at us. We’re in an increasingly better place to do this thanks to our recruitment and training programmes, inducting hundreds of new caseworkers and enhancing the skills of their more experienced counterparts. We’re also continuing to invest in digitising our services and making automation the norm for less complex applications.

What were your overall impressions from your visits to HM Land Registry offices around the country and conversations with our people?

I’ve been greatly impressed by the skill, dedication and team spirit I’ve seen in every office I’ve visited. My colleagues are knowledgeable, caring and true professionals, whether they’re in casework or in other roles. We have some of the longest-serving staff

in the Civil Service, which is testament to the bond between the organisation and its people. My travels have also demonstrated we have presence and roots in communities across the country, providing good jobs and economic activity in those places. We want to build on all those assets, preserving the best of HM Land Registry while becoming a truly modern public service at the cutting edge of digital transformation.

Foreword by Simon Hayes, Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar

Simon Hayes, Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar

How do you think the past 12 months have gone for HM Land Registry?

It’s been a year of real achievement. We’ve made significant improvements to our current performance, and at the same time we have put ourselves in a better position to tackle our longer-term challenges. We have continued to address a number of long standing issues, including increasing our capability and capacity to provide a better service to our customers. In the last year, we saw some very positive results in terms of our processing times, improving the average speed of service to 13 days overall, and reducing the age of our oldest applications by three months.

It’s still taking us longer to process some applications than we or our customers would expect, and I fully appreciate the impact this can have. That’s why improving our service has remained, and will continue to remain, our number one priority.

An important moment for us this year was becoming a partner body of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. I was pleased with how quickly we established a productive working relationship with ministers and colleagues in the department.

We continued to save customers time and money via the migration of local authority data to the Local Land Charges Programme. This ambitious geospatial data transformation was recognised as Programme of the Year in the Civil Service awards in December. Change has remained a priority internally as our Transformation and Technology directorate brought together several functions in order to improve collaboration and deliver better outcomes for customers.

What have been the main challenges?

Probably the challenge of responding to the increasing demand for our services – the total number of applications and service requests we received rose from 46.5 million in 2022-23 to just under 57 million in 2023-24 – while simultaneously keeping up the pace of modernisation and improvement. There was a danger we would lose sight of the longer term given the day-to-day demands, but I’m happy to say that didn’t happen.

What improvements have we achieved?

We’ve successfully built our capacity and capability through recruitment, training and progression. More than 300 new caseworkers joined us over the year and around 600 of their experienced colleagues were promoted to more senior roles to work on more complex applications. This has enabled us to increase both overall output and productivity. Our total output over the year was up 7% on 2022-23. In March, we produced the biggest reduction of outstanding applications in over a year with daily average output 16% higher than the same period the previous year. Output per person was also at its highest level for 18 months, despite so many new staff.

We’ve continued to enhance our services, enabling customers using our portal to manage their own applications more easily and to edit and submit their colleagues’ applications. We’ve also changed the way we calculate estimated completion dates for applications to make it more accurate and specific. As with all the improvements we make to our services, feedback from customers was central to the changes we made.

Our most critical frontline services have meanwhile continued to operate very effectively. We delivered 99.7% of our pre-completion guaranteed information services within three working days, against a target for the year of 95%. We also processed nearly 1,300 expedited (fast- track) applications every day.

What are the main improvements that customers can expect to see in 2024-25?

We fully recognise the growing demands on our customers as the property industry changes and their clients’ expectations increase. Customers will see us devote increasing time and resources to understanding their needs and improving how we work with them. We obtain invaluable insights into how to do this by our quarterly Customer Heartbeat survey, our regular Industry Forum and Land Registry Advisory Council meetings, and the conversations between customers and our account managers.

We will continue to work in partnership with customers to help improve the accuracy of their applications and get more of them right first time. We will provide improved information about our services overall and individual applications that are with us. And we’ll continue to make life easier for customers through initiatives such as the automated provision of data to mortgage lenders on the progress of their applications, so they no longer need to chase conveyancers for updates.

We will continue to invest in training and the development of our people. As our Land Registration Academy matures, including our leadership development programmes, colleagues are being supported in ever increasing numbers to learn new skills and progress their careers.

This will support the ongoing improvements to our service, driving down the age of our oldest applications and the overall number of applications waiting to be processed.

What are your thoughts on how we can further enable change across the property sector?

We’ll continue to work with our partners in the Digital Property Market Steering Group to shape the evolution of the industry in a way that benefits everyone, based upon the roadmap the group published in January (see page 17). This sets out the way ahead in a number of key areas including automation, digital identity, e-signatures and upfront information.

By harnessing the energy and ideas of all the main players in the market, including the start-up businesses whose data-led solutions we sponsor through the Geovation Accelerator Programme, we want to play our part in building momentum towards speedier, more transparent and more efficient buying and selling of land and property. We can only do this by talking to each other and cooperating in making the necessary changes. I very much look forward to working together with all our partners to achieve this.

Highlights

Measures to support customers

We receive thousands of applications to change the register on a daily basis which we process as quickly as possible. Every application we receive protects the transaction it is registering from the day we receive it.

While we know there is more work to do to improve the delays experienced to non-urgent applications by some of our customers, which is our number one priority, the average speed of service is 13 days overall.

We have recruited more than 300 caseworkers in 2023-24 to help process additional applications, and have promoted around 600 colleagues to more senior roles, allowing them to work on our more complex applications. We believe improvements can only be delivered through a combination of recruitment and training alongside automation. At the moment, 24% of our applications to change the register are automated, usually completed immediately or within minutes.

Automating applications

The majority of information services and a third of register update applications are automated. The Local Land Charges Programme (see further details on page 15) is another example of automation.

In our ongoing commitment to improving our services to customers we have been exploring what more we can do. The majority of the work handled by our caseworkers involves a mortgage. We believe most of the checks they currently perform manually could be replaced, allowing them to focus on more complex applications where their expertise and professional judgment make the most difference. We have been working closely with several firms to explore how this could work. Following initial testing, we automated our first application in September 2023. Since then, we have fully automated more than 4,000 applications, with a further 3,000 partially automated.

Reducing requisitions

A significant priority across HM Land Registry is to encourage high-quality applications and reduce ‘avoidable’ requisitions, or requests for information. The service our customers receive is affected by the around one million requisitions we send each year as they take up time, clog up systems and lead to delays in processing applications.

We have brought in a range of measures including specific training, guidance and telephone requisitions where we can speak to customers directly to resolve minor issues. We are also developing our digital application systems to design out avoidable errors we receive from our customers. In January, we launched a social media campaign demonstrating 10 simple tips that customers can follow to avoid more than 20 of the most frequent ‘avoidable’ requisition points.

Local Land Charges

HM Land Registry’s multi-award-winning Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is one of the most ambitious geospatial data transformations ever attempted by a UK government department. We are transforming the LLC services currently delivered by more than 300 local authorities in England and Wales into a single national, digital LLC Register. Users can get immediate, high- quality, standardised official search results for a fixed fee. Instant access to the data and a uniform digital-first customer experience also creates opportunities to unlock substantial economic benefits across the property market. Upfront information reduces risk by informing decision- making early, benefiting property buyers, speeding up planning decisions and supporting infrastructure and investment decisions.

Since 2018, we have migrated local land charges held by local authorities as quickly as possible without compromising data quality or the integrity of the register. By the end of 2023-24, since the programme started, 89 local authorities had successfully transferred almost 5.5 million charges to our national register. With more than 900,000 searches carried out on our service already, we have saved customers more than £1.9 million due to cheaper search fees.

In December 2023, our Local Land Charges team was presented with the Programme of the Year honour at the Civil Service Awards. The Programme of the Year category looks at the impact of government programmes on citizens. It also scrutinises how organisations embrace innovative approaches and delivery methods to achieve the best results, as well as programme management. The award is a testament to the hard work demonstrated by everyone in the LLC Programme.

The team also won a Government Operational Research Service (GORS) award for ‘Achieving Impact with Analysis’. The GORS Awards recognise, promote and celebrate the work being done across the GORS analytical profession.

This award is in recognition of the IDEAS (Insight, Data, Evidence and Analytical Support) team’s long-term forecasting model, which is used to help the programme understand when all migrations will be completed and what operational steps are required to achieve this. This is an example of analysis supporting decision-making, and of colleagues working together to create the best possible outcome for the organisation.

• 89 local authorities have had almost 5.5 million charges successfully transferred to our national register
• More than 900,000 searches carried out
• Customers saved more than 6,000 years of time waiting for search results
• More than £1.9 million saved due to cheaper search fees

Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG).

Helping to transform the market

We are committed to working with others to achieve crucial transformation in the land and property market and dramatically improve the experience of all those involved in it. This year we were instrumental in bringing property and technology experts together to form the new Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG).

DPMSG’s purpose is to help the property market work better for all by accelerating the adoption of digital technology, which directly supports wider government housing and planning reform aims. A transparent, secure and consumer-friendly property market benefits everyone, but can only be achieved through collaboration and innovation across the sector.

The DPMSG vision

“We want everyone involved in buying, leasing and selling land and property to experience a secure and modern market that is transparent, customer-friendly and business-friendly at all stages. Through collaboration, innovation and a focus on emerging digital technologies we will build on existing progress across the home buying and selling system to get a better result for the customer: simpler, faster, more certain and less stressful.”

The DPMSG roadmap is underpinned by five key objectives.

1. No surprises and no delays: up front information means there are no surprises after the buying decision and no waiting for searches.
2. Transparency and innovation: sharing information using an open protocol allows everyone to see what is happening in a transaction and supports innovative consumer-friendly digital services.
3. Convenient and secure: using digital identity checks (just once) and e-signatures makes the process easier and more secure.
4. Always improving: collaborative research across users and the PropTech sector will accelerate the use of emerging technology such as artificial intelligence.
5. Open and collaborative: we will work in the open, publishing research, the programme of activities and an annual summary of progress.

To coincide with DPMSG’s launch, we also produced a new podcast series, Property with a View. Hosted by Mike Harlow, our Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Strategy, leaders from across the sector discuss what changes need to happen and how the market can work together to achieve them. The podcasts cover all corners of the industry featuring guests such as Kate Faulkner OBE, Chair of the Home Buying and Selling Group, Maria Harris of the Open Property Data Association and Hannah Cook of the Norwegian Mapping Authority.

Digital services

A number of key improvements have been made to our digital services throughout the year. Using feedback from customers, we have adapted our services to meet their needs more closely.

HM Land Registry portal

On the HM Land Registry portal, we enhanced the View Applications tool which helps users to manage their applications and easily find related correspondence.

Early in the year we introduced flags against applications that had outstanding requisitions, as well as a filter function to isolate those that needed a response. This simple change made it much easier to find requisitions, reducing customers’ reliance on emails.

Also on the portal, our Digital Registration Service (DRS) made it much easier to save applications which are still being drafted, meaning that work is not lost if users needed to disconnect or close an application halfway through. We also made it possible to edit all essential details within a draft application.

Customers have been telling us more about how they work, sharing applications with colleagues, which had historically been an issue when using DRS. In December, we introduced a function for users to access, complete and submit their colleagues’ applications as well as to transfer applications between colleagues.

Customers noted this not only made DRS more user- friendly, and saves them a significant amount of time, but it also helps with training new staff who need to have applications checked before submission.

Business Gateway

We have brought our Estimated Completion Date tool to our Business Gateway application programming interfaces (APIs). Our APIs allow software developers to connect with our systems. Developers can now enhance their case management software by including an estimated date of when an application will be completed.

Customers connected through these APIs now have access to greater levels of pre-submission validation options. Our systems can help check whether the right charge date, fee or mortgage document reference has been added to an application.

We enhanced our Official Copy Document Availability service, which identifies when a document contains a plan only flag. This allows end users to make a more informed decision for the subsequent official copy order.

Digital applications

The move to digital is an essential tool in helping HM Land Registry to provide quicker registration services for customers. Digital applications also make it easier to automate more of our work. Moving away from paper forms, or scanned copies, removes the need for our caseworkers to retype information into our casework systems. This also reduces the risk of human error and means we can process applications much more quickly.

More than 87% of our applications to change the register were made digitally in 2023-24, amounting to more than 3.7m applications in total.

Ending progress chasing

We are working with mortgage lenders to ensure they will no longer need to chase conveyancers for updates on the status of their applications. In a successful pilot, HM Land Registry is providing ten of the top mortgage lenders with data on the progress of their applications.

We share a weekly update with each lender to ensure their information stays up to date. We are now exploring extending the opportunity to other lenders. As Rob Stevens, Nationwide’s Head of Property Risk, noted, this is a “breakthrough moment… [which will] save both lenders and conveyancers time by reducing the amount of back and forth between the two.”

Practice and Process

Our latest customer newsletter, complementing the long- established Landnet, focuses on updates to our practice guides, changes to our processes and customer training developments. Practice and Process has attracted 6,700 subscribers in the first 12 months. A new section, Ask Adam, aims to answer any questions readers might have.

For Central Operations Manager David Linn, the newsletter has quickly established itself as a useful means of communication.

Environmental, Social and Governance overview

HM Land Registry is uniquely placed to make a significant contribution to environmental and social progress in England and Wales. We provide data and services that support people, businesses and government to make informed decisions about how to use land sustainably and make the most of it for the benefit of society.

Through the governance and reporting obligations that come with being a government department, and following best practice and continuous improvement, HM Land

Registry fulfils a broad range of activities that are associated with sustainable organisations – environmentally and socially.

We strive to be a modern, inclusive and diverse organisation with a culture and policies that recognise the communities we live in and balance work with all aspects of life. The Environmental, Social and Governance Framework encapsulates our approach and outlines our key activity showing where we can make a difference.

Environmental, Social and Governance Framework

We protect your land ownership and provide services and data that underpin an efficient and informed property market

Environmental

Reducing our impact

• Working closely with the Government Property Agency to ensure HM Land Registry sites are as efficientas they can be – with increasingly ambitious targets to reduce water, waste and fuel
• Aligning with government requirements to reach Net Zero ahead of 2050 and thinking creatively to reduce emissions
• Travel and Subsistence policies that promote lowest emissions
• Green initiatives at local offices are encouraged and supported
• A Sustainability Panel that oversees and supports activity across the organisation

Social

Great employer

• Equal opportunities employer that reflects local communities
• Pay and benefits package that supports a great work/life balance, recognises non- work commitments and responsibilities and promotes good health and wellbeing
• Staff networks that encourage self-expression,recognise the value in diversity and make HM Land Registry an inclusive place to work
• Opportunities for career development and progression delivered through HM Land Registry Campus

Contributing to society

• Responsible supply chains and procurement policies
• Offices located across England and Wales supporting levelling-up principles
• Policies that support volunteeringand encourage community engagement
• Making data open and usable creates transparency and boosts economic activity
• Developing a data strategy that will allow greater access to and usability of HM Land Registry data
• Leading the charge on transforming the housing and land sector through the Digital Property Market Steering Group

Governance

Integrity and transparency

• Strong corporate governance ensuring compliance and transparency
• Effective risk management
• Ethical business practices and conflict of interest policies
• Accounting integrity and transparency
• Supporting and aligning with government sponsors In Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on land transparency and leasehold reform
• Work closely with customers to ensure our services meet their needs
• Central to business planning

Environmental

Data hall migration

Following two years of planning and preparation, we migrated our two Plymouth data halls into Crown Hosting facilities over the August bank holiday weekend.

Our first electronic register began in Plymouth in the early 90s and remained in our own privately owned data centres for the last 25 years, until the move. Our whole data centre estate is now hosted alongside significant parts of the Critical National Infrastructure within Crown Hosting. This is a unique collaboration with Cabinet Office that provides physical data centre space for public sector organisations.

The construction of the Crown Hosting facility favours steel over concrete, which allows a recycle rate of 90% of building fabric in the future when compared with traditionally constructed buildings. All building and security management IT systems within the campus are powered by solar systems on site, and all customer consumed power is provided by green energy suppliers powered by 100% renewable energy. Emergency power generation is produced using hydrotreated vegetable oil reducing scope 1 fossil emissions by 90%, nitric oxide/ nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions by more than 15% and particular emissions by more than 25% compared with traditional diesel. The data centre’s cooling systems operate solely on harvested rainwater captured from roof tops and car park run-off on site and stored underground.

To encourage biodiversity, living walls are being installed across all campuses. This encourages wildlife to flourish and has the added benefit of absorbing heat when the weather is hot, and acting as an insulator when it is cold, further reducing the need to cool or heat client rooms.

Crown Hosting is part of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact. They pride themselves on one of the lowest power usage effectiveness (Pue) operating figures in the data centre host space, with an annualised Pue of 1.2. This has been evident with our relocation where we have seen an overall reduced power consumption from 92,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month to 25,000 kWh per month.

The migration was the biggest and most complex technical change we have ever undertaken, involving the dismantling, packing up, transporting and connecting of thousands of cables, servers, network kit and, most importantly, the mainframe register platform. This was all delivered with no disruption to the organisation. The additional benefits include increased resilience and a substantial cost-saving.

We have also recently transferred our first ever digital records to the National Archives, preserving our place in the nation’s history. This involved reviewing hundreds of records, some of which were over 20 years old. The next tranche of nearly 1,000 records is also ready to be added to the permanent archive of government records.

Big Spring Clean

In March, a team of volunteers from the Croydon office spent time litter picking as part of the annual Great British Spring Clean. All were kitted out with hi-vis jackets, gloves and grabbers as they tackled the hedges of Bedford Park outside the office. A huge amount was collected and a separate collection made of recycling waste.

	Achieved 2023-24	Target for 2025	On target?
Carbon	50% reduction	59% reduction	On target
Waste arising	77% reduction in waste generated	Reduce the amount of waste generated by at least 25% Recycle or compost at least 70% of waste and landfill less than 10% of waste	On target
	100% recycled
	0% landfill
	Waste to Energy process
Water consumption	57% reduction	Reduce the amount of waste generated by at least 8%	On target
Paper consumption	61% reduction	Reduce our paper use by 50% from 2017-18 baseline	On target

Area		Performance	Target – not to exceed
Energy: greenhouse gas emissions, all areas within scope	carbon emissions (tonnes)	2,406	4,328
	expenditure (£)	1,930,202.22
Waste	consumption (tonnes)	241	948
	expenditure (£)	93,163.50
Water	consumption (m)	17,792	38,990

Carbon

We have reduced consumption of electricity against last year use by 1,824 MWh. This reflects reduced use of space within our properties. The most significant drop is from the migration of our data to Crown Hosting arrangements and the closure of our data centre.

Gas consumption has fallen from last year’s figures by 1,448 MWh. This has been achieved by improvements to, or replacements of, some of our building heating systems.

Our overall carbon emissions have reduced since 2017-18 and are at 2,406 tonnes, a reduction against the baseline year of 59%. See Appendix C for historic trend data.

The new target set by the Greening Government Commitments (GGC) for carbon from domestic flights to be reduced by 30% by end of March 2025 is on track. In the baseline year HM Land Registry had a total of 351 domestic fights with a carbon impact of 18.03 tonnes. In 2023-24 we recorded 36 domestic fights with a carbon impact of 4.94 tonnes, resulting in a carbon reduction against the baseline of 73%. We made one continental short-haul flight.

Waste

The target set is to reduce the overall amount of waste generated by 15% from a 2017-18 baseline and strive to reduce it further, and recycle or compost by 70%, with a goal to send less than 5% of waste to landfill.

We are currently meeting the targets, with the amount of waste generated cut by 61% and 100% of all waste recycled or incinerated for energy conversion (32%) rather than going to landfill.

Paper equates to 46% of waste, with 172.74 tonnes being sent for recycling.

GGC targets also require the removal of consumer single use plastics from the government estate. We aim to eliminate all sources of single use plastic from our supply chain and have made significant progress. Our stationery suppliers have advised that they are working with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs on a reporting mechanism for all the government estate.

Water

We have achieved a 57% reduction in water consumption against a target of 8% from a 2017-18 baseline. We remain on track to meet the target despite increased use of our buildings in 2023-24.

Paper

Our GGC target to reduce our paper use by 50% from a 2017-18 baseline shows a current improvement of 61% on A4 equivalent. Our digital services programme and our move to on-request printing are continuing to have a significant impact. Further work is planned to review overall paper use across the estate.

We contribute to sustainability forums across government, including the Government Property Agency (GPA) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

We work closely with our facilities management provider OCS to support effective building management, identifying continuous improvement and monitoring. Our new facilities management contract has a greater focus on sustainability with a programme of annual collaborative environmental and sustainability related activities.

We have continued our accreditation to ISO14001 standards in Environmental Management Systems with re-certification confirmed for 2023, which is based on compliance and demonstrating continuous improvement. We continue to monitor our effectiveness in the management of our sustainability aspirations through internal and external audits against the ISO14001 Environmental Management standards. Our cross-HM Land Registry Sustainability Panel oversees this activity.

We have removed a number of single use plastics from our ordering options and continue to work with suppliers and OCS to identify all opportunities to reduce what comes into our buildings that then needs to go to waste. We have

water restrictors on all taps and made improvements to our heating and plumbing that reduce incidental water waste.

Sustainability impact assessments are applied to any projects that may require them. We have established working principles with our furniture suppliers to ensure a life cycle practice on disposal and recycling for office moves and returns from home working office furniture.

Flora and fauna protection features in all property works and project decisions via impact assessments and regular monitoring. We have recognised several protected species across our estate, including bees, bats, owls and badgers, with some ponds that encourage newts, frogs, slow-worms and voles. Our Plymouth site is next to woodland where we are regularly visited by a wild deer herd and have a returning duck population.

Our local champions encourage staff and tenants across our estate to embrace biodiverse activities to maintain the rich and natural environment and wildlife our sites enjoy. We have promoted and supported a range of local/national events including the Great British Tidy, Big Green Week, Earth Day, World Bike Day, National UK Birdwatch and No Mow May. We promote a wide range of sustainability themes, aiming to improve carbon literacy and awareness, and we plan to make our performance data on all aspects of energy, waste and travel accessible for colleagues via a usage and emissions dashboard.

Our buildings are now owned by the GPA but we manage the services, and business and operational activities within them. A programme of agreed Net Zero works is under review for 2024-25.

Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Compliance Statement 

As the GPA now owns, and has responsibility, for the majority of the properties we occupy, we have commenced discussions with them on how climate change resilience can be factored into property plans, in line with the Government Sustainability Strategy 2022-30.

This will include the timetable for a programme of climate change adaptation surveys from which action plans can be developed to ensure, as occupants of their properties, we are aware and can help manage the risks and explore the opportunities for further interventions.

As such HM Land Registry does not currently have a reporting process in place for the recommended disclosures in 2023-24 but we will work with the GPA on a reporting mechanism for these (either directly or through them) in future years.

Our Procurement and Contract Management Policy pays proper regard to sustainability, including social value, tackling modern slavery, support for small and medium- size enterprises and environmental factors. We ensure sustainability is considered in our investment choices so we contribute directly to achieving GGC targets. We include social, economic and/or environmental requirements in our tender specifications and assess suppliers’ responses to these, and we are committed to working with our suppliers to measure performance against agreed measures to maximise value for money during the life of a contract.

Information and communications technology and digital

Our commitment to the Government’s Net Zero carbon requirements includes ensuring upgrades or replacement of any information and communications technology (ICT), and digital equipment, hosting or supporting mechanical and electrical infrastructure, must perform better than what is being replaced. We comply with all relevant environmental legislation and key Government objectives, including reporting annually to the Sustainable Technology Advice & Reporting (STAR) Team. We ensure 100% of all decommissioned ICT equipment is reused, recycled or disposed of environmentally and ethically.

Social

Environmental, Social and Governance criteria evaluate how an organisation manages its relationships with stakeholders, and its support for social causes. This may include gender equality, racial diversity, and fair and inclusive hiring practices. This means the social pillar can relate to both how HM Land Registry operates as an employer and the contribution we make to wider society.

Our people

Our Land Registration Academy, launched in April 2021, aligns to our People Strategy commitments by investing in our casework expertise and professionalism. Our academy recognises that at heart we are an organisation of expert people, and that technical knowledge is essential for our ability to deliver all services for our customers both now and in the future.

Since then, we have invested heavily in caseworker cohorts, training approximately 2,500 new starters or existing colleagues who have progressed to new roles. In 2023-24, more than 950 colleagues took part in formal training, including more than 300 new starters and around 600 people who had been promoted.

We have launched and implemented trainer development and career paths, recruiting around 75 trainers across different grades. This will transform our capacity, retention and delivery outcomes as we invest in the technical capability of this cohort. Our Land Registration Academy Customer Services training team achieved Bronze at the UK Contact Centre Awards in the category of Learning and Development Team of the Year.

Here’s what some of our trainers and learners have said:

Taking on a training role has proven to be the most challenging and fulfilling role I have ever had. I am continually developing my own leadership and technical skills as well as learning valuable lessons in resilience and adaptability. Seeing the learners develop throughout their training and beyond has provided a source of great satisfaction.

 Justin Gill, Land Registration Academy training instructor

A large and enjoyable part of my role working for the academy in partial retirement has been to impart and pass on my knowledge of working for HM Land Registry for 35 years to both learners and less experienced training instructors, and watching them grow in both confidence and technical understanding.

Chris Austin, Land Registration Academy training instructor

Supporting the transfer of part training was pivotal in my own development and progression and led to my promotion. I am now on my own HEO [Higher Executive Officer] progression training and can see the work the academy have put in to ensure consistency of training and that adequate support is in place to make each module run smoothly. I feel that this environment allows me to grow in ability and confidence on a daily basis.

Claire Mangan, learner and coach

Due to the complex nature of the subject I was learning, I often found myself asking a lot of questions. What impressed me the most about my trainer was that he understood exactly what I needed. I attribute this skill to the vast experience and wealth of knowledge he had accumulated over his years in HM Land Registry. The course was lengthy and quite intense at times, but it was quite evident that he wanted every one of us to succeed and be awarded with our technical authority at the end of the course. 

Mohammed Kashem, learner

At Telford, we have seen good results by collaborating with casework teams using problem- solving skills to successfully meet the challenge of supporting a significant training commitment whilst growing coaching capability and confidence.

Rebecca Bandhan, Technical Development Manager, Telford Office

Stepping into and up to leadership

We continued our popular Accelerated Leadership Development Step Programmes for a second year. Aimed at equipping participants with the skills, knowledge and behaviours to become great leaders at HM Land Registry, the courses are designed to support high-potential colleagues and create an environment for shared learning and networking. Thirteen colleagues completed the Step Up to Senior Leadership and 21 took part in the Step into Team Leadership. Since training, there have been 25 promotions and one job change.

The programme has helped me gain the confidence to step further outside of my comfort zone, have a more open growth mindset and seek out opportunities via networking. This time last year I was a permanent EO [Executive Officer], having initially joined HM Land Registry on a two-year contract as an AO [Administrative Officer]. During the course I gained progression to HEO [Higher Executive Officer] in my usual role and I am currently a temporary SEO [Senior Executive Officer] in an area of the business which is completely new to me. I highly recommend the course which has helped me to consider my own leadership skills, make new contacts and gain a wider perspective of the organisation as whole.

Hayley Cetinkaya, Casework Team Leader

Participating in the Step Into Team Leadership programme was incredibly beneficial in expanding my network, not just across offices but across directorates too. My cohort came from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences and I’ve been able to gain insight into different areas and what it’s like to work there, which has opened my eyes to potential career paths I didn’t know were available to me previously. This alongside the opportunity to network with senior leaders on multiple occasions has given me a new direction which I am now better equipped to pursue as a result.

Rosie Goodison, Executive Registration Officer

I can’t recommend this scheme highly enough – it’s been fantastic to see so many of the graduates from our very own internal programme using the skills and confidence they gained in new areas of our business.

Terry Robertson, Deputy Director Strategy

Attracting a diverse workforce

A number of colleagues have attended career fairs to help raise awareness of HM Land Registry as a great place to work and attract a diverse workforce that better represents all our citizens. Taking place in both Hull and Birkenhead, these Civil Service events were aimed at encouraging people from all backgrounds to find out more about different careers.

Pilot programmes to help progression

We have developed and piloted a different approach to casework promotion during 2023-24 to develop skills and career pathways. Instead of our conventional recruitment and selection process, our work-based approach focuses on gathering technical and behavioural evidence as part of day-to-day work activities to demonstrate performance, potential and readiness to move into the next grade.

We launched four pilots, successfully delivering resource plan requirements with 31 AOs to EO in the Customer Support Centre, 13 AOs to EO within the Customer Resolution Team, 27 EOs to HEO in Service Delivery and our fourth pilot into Senior Casework Executive roles. We are analysing the results and lessons learned so we can develop and refine the process in the future.

Our offices

We’ve increased leadership visibility across our 14 offices, creating more face-to-face engagement opportunities to compliment the regular online ‘town hall’ events. We organise meetings in all our locations and ensure our senior leaders and Land Registry Board members can meet the teams based there.

Leaders say the experiences are invaluable, as Eddie Davies, Deputy Director of Digital Services, explains:

From the moment I walked through the door, it was evident that the teams I visited were fuelled by a genuine passion for their work. I was inspired by their dedication, creativity, and collaborative spirit. It was truly a pleasure to witness such passion and dedication first-hand, and I left feeling inspired by the incredible talent and enthusiasm of the teams I had the privilege of meeting.

Kirsty Cooper, Non-executive Board Member, said:

The Board had a terrific visit to Plymouth, and it was great to see the breadth of activity being undertaken in that office. In particular, spending time with the profits team showed just how technically challenging casework can be. We were made to feel very welcome, and it was a real pleasure to meet so many colleagues.

Workspaces for now and the future 

Our Workplace Strategy, updated in March 2024, reaffirmed our approach to continue to adapt our workplaces and how we will align to the Government Property Strategy 2022-2030. Building on existing principles, we committed to retain a presence in each of our current 14 office locations to provide stability for the organisation, supporting knowledge retention and experience, and limiting the people change impacts.

In 2023-24, we celebrated one year since the Nottingham office move into a Government Hub, and preparations are underway to move into a new location in Coventry. We also secured funding from the GPA to enable investment in life cycle replacement schemes, for items such as lifts, boilers and solar panels, within the properties we occupy.

In the longer term, the overall size of the estate will fall and our geographical locations may change to suit the way we work. We will assess our options for existing and new workspaces to determine their strategic fit for HM Land Registry and wider government future needs based on efficiency, effectiveness, location, workforce and sustainability.

Wellbeing

We achieved gold in the 2023 MIND Workplace Wellbeing Awards. These awards recognise employers who have embedded mental health into their policies and practices, as well as shown a long term and in-depth commitment to colleague mental health. This is the third time that we have taken part, the first being in 2018 when we achieved a Silver Award, and again in 2021 when we achieved a Gold Award.

A total of 22 of the 61 organisations who took part achieved the awards with HM Land Registry being the only government organisation to achieve gold. The index assessed

five areas of practice: people management, culture and engagement, wellbeing initiatives, knowledge and skills, and support.

Carer Confident

HM Land Registry has been enhancing the support and guidance to colleagues who are carers. In addition to the carers passport that helps to establish requirements and conversations with line managers, the team have been finding the best way to identify all carers in the workplace and promote the caring and work guide. We are also working towards recognition as a Carer Confident Accomplished employer.

Diversity and inclusion

We continue to strive to be the most inclusive employer in the Civil Service and to reflect the society we serve. We review and check best practice with other departments and the private sector, undertaking equality impact assessments for people change activities, and all policies are drafted to reflect the requirements of different groups to ensure we build diversity and inclusion into day-to-day activity. We are a Disability Confident leader and continue to score highly for questions related to inclusion in the Civil Service People Survey with an overall score of 81%.

LR Leisure

LR Leisure is one of the leading advocates for and providers of opportunities for colleagues to connect socially at office and department level. We have been building opportunities for our people to interact and forge those friendships that have always enhanced our working environment. All of our local and national volunteers can be very proud of everything they have achieved over the past year, helping to create lifelong memories for our people.

Paul Hayden, LR Leisure Secretary

A year of firsts and firm favourites

This year we introduced cycling to our calendar with an adrenaline-fuelled event at Bike Park Wales, and our Book Club has been a real success, growing to almost 200 members. We are also leading the way with the Civil Service Sports Council’s focus on ladies’ football, getting teams geared up for our inaugural Kerr Cup.

We brought our people together across the country with the return of our LR Festival (Sports Day) in Exeter, the LR ‘Duckfest’ Challenge in Lancashire, and the LR Leisure

Awards in Manchester. The LR Leisure Trophy, marking the highest participation at national events, was awarded to our Croydon office.

More than 70 players battled the elements at our Furneaux Golf tournament in Telford, and over 850 works were submitted to the Arts and Photographic competition, hosted by Nottingham. HM Land Registry wasn’t immune to Barbie-mania, with a beautiful rendition of What was I made for by Higher Registration Officer Sonia Hayward stealing the night at our virtual L’euRovision competition.

Thriving staff networks

We have eight diversity networks offering advice, support and awareness of the protected characteristics they represent. All of the networks welcome allies who help build inclusion within HM Land Registry through shared understanding and role modelling.

This year we launched a new network for social mobility called Aspire. The network aims to support those from less privileged backgrounds to build their confidence and opportunities for progression.

Iain Banfield, Chief Financial Officer and board champion of the network, said:

I want to work in, and champion, an organisation where there is genuine equality of opportunity regardless of an individual’s gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity or the socio-economic background of their parents.

The network currently has 59 members and has plans to build an action plan to support social mobility in all aspects of HM Land Registry’s work. Members have already participated in cross-government events and schemes such as Social Mobility Day and have offered coaching opportunities, including participation in the cross-government Catapult mentoring scheme which aims to support colleagues from less privileged backgrounds.

The Women’s Network, with more than 930 members, is an inclusive space where people from all walks of life can come together with a focus on women’s health, wellbeing and ability to reach their full potential. It is open to all and encourages allies to join. The network has a Parent Support Network, a book club and a regular newsletter as well as private support groups: a Menopause Support Group and a newly created Health Support Group.

In March, the Women’s Network organised a Strive to Thrive virtual conference to celebrate International Women’s Day, with events to raise awareness, break taboos and tackle inequalities. The event included a range of sessions, open to colleagues of all genders, focusing on information and resources that enable us to thrive. These included sessions on imposter syndrome, the power of social media, psychological safety and menopause awareness for all.

Job shadowing across government geospatial data partners

HM Land Registry participated in a job shadowing programme with the Geospatial Commission and its partner bodies, enabling closer working between the organisations involved.

Alongside ourselves, the other partner bodies of the Geospatial Commission are the Coal Authority, Valuation Office Agency, British Geological Survey, Ordnance Survey and UK Hydrographic Office, each of whom has a wealth of geospatial data and expertise.

The job shadowing gave participants the chance to learn about real-life challenges and the ingenious solutions that different organisations in the partnership are designing and delivering. The exposure to different geospatial data and teams broadened participants’ understanding of the industry while building new relationships with colleagues. We also hosted members of partner bodies in the LLC Programme, data science, data product management and data analysis teams.

Ruby Dixon, Strategic Planning and Performance Advisor, said:

In February, I shadowed the Service Delivery (Consumer) team at Ordnance Survey. I chose this option because I wanted to experience a new area of work and to learn about their customer strategies. Additionally, I had the amazing opportunity to see how OS maps were made from satellite imagery to the final consumer product. I had a brilliant day, and the experience really helped me to strengthen my knowledge of the geospatial industry, working across the public sector, and different customer strategies.

Geovation

We continue to support PropTech start-ups by sponsoring the Geovation Accelerator Programme (GAP) alongside Ordnance Survey. Seven start-ups joined the programme in 2023-24, profiting from the funding, support and access to property and location data the programme offers.

Previous participants in the programme have gone on to develop solutions to existing problems in the property market and further afield, demonstrating the economic and social benefits that can be derived from our data.

One example is Conveyo, founded by a property lawyer and data scientist with the objective of “helping home movers sell without hassle and buy with confidence”. Conveyo’s digital conveyancing platform sources data from over 100 data points, such as HM Land Registry’s price paid information, to paint a comprehensive picture about a property and its surroundings. This helps Conveyo to coordinate the entire transaction, handle the legal workstream and provide automated communications between all parties, making sure everyone is on the same page without the need for update calls.

Former participant Blocktype was developed by an urban designer and data scientist to simplify the process of site appraisals. By allowing anyone to explore what they can fit on a plot of land, they believe this will reduce land speculation and help build the right homes in the right places.

Blocktype’s Chief Executive Officer and co- founder Euan Mills said:

Taking part in the Geovation programme helped us develop our early concepts into a fully functional start-up. The access to mentors and experts, including HM Land Registry specialists, put us in the right direction to develop our approach to sales, marketing and financial modelling.

Another GAP participant, Searchland, announced its data integration with Rightmove, enabling their clients to see whether a developable site is on the market. Since taking part in Geovation, Searchland has expanded from 100 to over 1,000 customers, as well as grown their team eightfold. Co-founder Hugh Gibbs acknowledges that taking part in the GAP probably sped up Searchland’s development by a year, fast tracking their journey from an idea to a business.

Since 2017 the GAP has kickstarted the business of 43 PropTech start-ups who have collectively raised more than £78 million in investment.

Governance

Information on HM Land Registry’s governance structures and assurance activity are covered in the Accountability Report.

Working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Following a Machinery of Government change taking effect from 1 June 2023, sponsorship responsibility for HM Land Registry was transferred to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) from the Department for Business and Trade.

Announcing the change to Parliament, the Prime Minister explained how the move would aid the delivery of DLUHC’s key policy objectives, including improving the home buying and selling process and delivering land transparency aims.

The move reflected a relationship built over many years. DLUHC has been a partner in our Local Land Charges Programme since its inception, and we worked closely with them on our refreshed strategy in 2022. Making our data more available in digital form and improving land transparency are key themes in HM Land Registry’s Strategy 2022+, and align with the powers granted to DLUHC under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.

This year we have worked in partnership with DLUHC to explore policy, regulatory, and service delivery options to improve the transparency of who owns and controls land in England and Wales. We also continued to work with them on leasehold reform and the home buying and selling process generally, as well as joining up in our collaboration with our stakeholders including through the Digital Property Market Steering Group.

I am really pleased that DLUHC is now the sponsor department to HM Land Registry. The work that you do in protecting land and property ownership is one that we also care deeply about, which is why this is an excellent opportunity for closer and collaborative alignment. I am really looking forward to our continued work on our exciting mission.

DLUHC Permanent Secretary Sarah Healey’s message to HM Land Registry staff, May 2023

Our Chief’s Office leads partner relationships through DLUHC’s sponsor team and UK Government Investments, which acts as our sponsor department’s agent in representing the Government’s interest in the governance and performance of HM Land Registry as an organisation. These relationships are underpinned by a Framework document that is in the process of being updated to reflect HM Land Registry’s new sponsorship arrangements. The Framework also establishes the formal relationships with HM Treasury and the Geospatial Commission.

Transformation & Technology

Transformation & Technology (T&T) became a new directorate in 2023-24, formed from what was previously Technology & Data Services, Transformation Group and Local Land Charges. Bringing these functions together was a major change, but one that was vital for the delivery of our vision as an organisation. This is already delivering tangible benefits that mean we can drive a greater pace of delivery for our colleagues and customers. The overall mission of the function is to maintain and improve all our systems – and the associated processes – both now and into the future. A significant effort has focused on casework systems to help improve productivity, alongside the strategic foundation building needed to get us where we all want to be: working every day with simplified, streamlined and truly digitalised systems.

Complaints

We welcome customer complaints as opportunities to resolve individual concerns and identify learning points to help improve our services and provide a better all-round customer experience.

In 2023-24, we recorded 9,111 complaints, compared with 10,991 in 2022-23 – a fall of 17%. This corresponds with a decrease in the number of customer contacts we have received overall and reflects reduced activity in the conveyancing market.

We worked to ensure greater consistency in the identification, handling and analysis of customer complaints, engaging and training colleagues on the value of complaints and how they should be handled. We have also taken steps to centralise complaint handling and resolution and customer contact further, so more complaints are handled by those best equipped to do so.

Of recorded complaints, 50% were upheld or partially upheld. Customer feedback about non-urgent registration applications and associated customer enquiries was the most common area of upheld complaint, comprising 29% of the upheld total. This reflects the position with some of our processing times for non-automated services, which are the most complex and new entries on the register that remain subject to delay. The other main areas of upheld complaints related to the requests for information (requisitions) we send customers when their applications are incomplete (6% of the upheld total) and the cancellation of applications where requisitions have not been resolved in the time period given (6% of the upheld total).

Acting on customer feedback

We analyse all complaints received throughout the year to capture and act on learning points. Examples of customer feedback include:

• More clarity needed on our processes for raising requisitions and the cancellation of applications, which vary in different situations. Change: Our practice guide 50, Requisition and cancellation procedures, has been amended to improve the clarity of guidance.
• For HM Land Registry to do more to reduce the number of requisitions we send. Change: We have made further customer training material available, including new webinars and checklists, and a targeted package of training material for new conveyancing staff. To specifically reduce the number of unnecessary requisitions, we have trialled changes to our internal processes with the aim of improving consistency andincreasing colleagues’ knowledge and confidence levelsto support effective decision making.
• Clearer information wanted on our criteria for expedition (fast track). Change: We have amended published criteria on GOV.UK to make it clearer what can constitute an application qualifying for expedite.
• Further guidance needed on using electronic signatures for documents, including HM Land Registry’s requirements. Change: We have published our latest free webinar on electronic signatures, which is available to customers on registration.
• Information on the action taken to develop and improve our digital services would be better in one place.

Change: We have published a digital services roadmap on GOV.UK giving information on the steps we have taken and future plans to create a simple, joined-up and consistent experience across our digital channels.

• For it to be easier for professional customers to navigate our practice guides and find the specific information they are looking for. Change: Podcasts are now available with information on specific topics and top tips on getting the most out of our guidance.
• Information for customers explaining new ownership and purchase price is not yet showing online. Change: We have published a blog explaining HM Land Registry’s role in the conveyancing process, explained current processing times and set out how urgent applications can be fast tracked.
• Have access to clearer guidance on the correct fee HM Land Registry payable. Change: Our online feecalculator has been improved to make fee calculations easier, particularly on applications relating to leasehold properties.
• Improved functionality needed within the customer portal for business users to deal with colleagues’ applications. Change: Via the Submit Colleagues’ Applications function users can now access, complete and submit colleagues’ applications. They can also transfer applications to a colleague.
• To reintroduce requests for information (requisition) by telephone to remedy simple issues. Change: Improved technology and a review of customer feedback has enabled giving our caseworkers the facility to raise requisitions by phone in certain situations.
• Make it easier to use guidance for customers in advance of submitting complex applications where information is not covered in our practice guides. Change: Our online Ask for Guidance facility has been improved to be more user friendly and support customers to navigate HM Land Registry processes and reduce requisitions.
• Updating mortgage lenders directly on the progress of applications so they don’t have to chase third parties. Change: In a pilot, we are providing 10 of the top mortgage lenders with data on the progress of their applications directly. This creates efficiency and reduces costs for both lenders and conveyancers. If the pilot is successful, we will explore the opportunity to extend it to other lenders.
• The need for a wider range of easy-to-understand guidance on common applications to improve quality and reduce requisitions at a later stage. Change: Two additional guidance videos have been published on GOV. UK and YouTube for completing forms AS1 and ID1.

Our Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) provides a free and impartial review and resolution service for any customer dissatisfied with how we have handled their complaint under our two-stage internal process. Throughout the year, the reports and recommendations arising from the complaints they have reviewed have continued to provide a valuable source of insight and identification of areas where we might need to improve. The ICR also publishes an annual report.

The ICR Andrea Cook sadly and unexpectedly died in June 2024. Andrea brought a wealth of experience to her role helping HM Land Registry to improve the way we deal with customers when they feel we have fallen short. The Secretary of State will appoint a new ICR in due course.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman did not investigate any HM Land Registry complaints during the year.

A Customer Care Review Committee was commissioned by the Board in March 2024 to conduct an independent review of customer handling procedures and customer experiences at HM Land Registry.

Public Sector Information Holder

We fulfil our role as a public sector information holder, through adherence to the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

In accordance with Schedule 2, Para 5(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018, HM Land Registry is exempt from complying with the listed GDPR provisions to the extent that the application of those provisions would prevent us from complying with our statutory obligations, including the Land Registration Act 2002, Land Charges Act 1972, Agricultural Credits Act 1928, and the Local Land Charges Act 1975.

We received a total of 702 Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests in 2023-24. Our overall response rate for responding to requests within the statutory timescales during 2023-24 was 93.7%.

We have implemented assurance activities to support the effective management of information assets and information-related risks via the corporate information asset register. In the provision of our data services, we comply with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.

In the provision of our data services, we comply with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.

Parliamentary Hub

HM Land Registry’s Parliamentary Hub sits in the Chief’s Office and is responsible for ensuring our parliamentary processes run smoothly. We have handled 15 parliamentary questions and considered over 25 government and other consultations, providing comments on three. We have overseen HM Land Registry ministerial business and engagement, including to deal with 152 ministerial and Treat Official letters.

Modern slavery

We support measures to ensure modern slavery, including human trafficking, has no place in our organisation or supply chains. We continue to use robust procedures in our contracts and recruitment processes. In addition, we facilitate the raising of concerns by colleagues, including any issues relating to our supply chains.

Service standards

Details of the service that customers can expect from us can be found on our website.

Welsh Language Scheme

We remain committed to our obligations under the Welsh Language Scheme to treat the English and Welsh languages equally when dealing with the public in Wales. Mike Harlow, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Strategy, is the senior responsible owner for the scheme. Our current scheme containing our action plan was approved by the Welsh Language Commissioner in September 2019.

The Welsh language work undertaken by HM Land Registry was mentioned in the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Assurance report for 2022-2023 under the heading ‘Bodies subject to language schemes’.

There have been a number of positive developments regarding the Welsh language on the GOV.UK website, for example, during the year. The developments include online services and new bilingual information pages from organisations including HM Land Registry, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

This is the second year running for HM Land Registry to be mentioned in the report, which demonstrates our commitment to the scheme.

A three-day Welsh language campaign was held in December, which included publishing a blog for customers, social media posts and an internal article for staff. The aim of the campaign was to draw attention to the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Use your Welsh campaign and our Welsh language services. The campaign also included a short video highlighting that our dedicated Welsh language team is at hand to assist with Welsh language correspondence and applications.

Health and safety

We have embedded health and safety arrangements to support and enable our maturing hybrid working model throughout the year. This has included enhancing the office environment to support increased office attendance.

We have developed learning resources across the organisation to support the focus on risk assessments and agile adverse event reporting and responses to incidents and accidents.

We have not only met our statutory obligations but built further resilience in supporting line managers and those visiting our offices. This has been acknowledged in internal and external audits, with continued accreditation with ISO 45001 occupational health and safety standards following a business-wide external audit. Our new learning resources aim to build confidence and drive a positive engaged health and safety culture at all levels of HM Land Registry.

How we’re delivering against our Strategy and Business Plan

This is the second year of our Business Plan 2022-2025. In this section we will share details of our progress and how it is helping to us to meet our aims for 2024-25.

Our Business Plan objectives

In August 2022, we published our Business Plan 2022- 2025. This set out our priority objectives, the plan for achieving them and the key performance indicators we would use to track performance.

Our Business Plan laid out our commitment to:

• deliver an improved speed of service for our customers;
• lay the foundations for our future role in a digital property market and maximise our impact on the future wider economy; and
• modernise our organisational culture and ways of working

We measure performance using a range of indicators and datasets on GOV.UK, enabling us to understand the broader impact the organisation is having, with the aim of delivering improvements.

The following summary shows how we progressed towards the objectives in our Business Plan 2022-2025. The performance analysis section of this report on pages xx to xx provides further details of our activities, and an analysis of progress against key performance indicators and the principal risks we have faced.

Deliver an improved speed of service for our customers

This objective supports two key elements of Strategy 2022+, delivering secure and efficient land registration and enabling property to be bought and sold digitally. Improving the speed of service for customers through investment in digital transformation and caseworker capacity and capability will enable us to keep pace with the market and make service delivery more resilient to future demand.

We provide a fast and efficient customer experience for those essential pre-completion services that enable properties to change hands without delay. During last year, we received over 21 million guaranteed information services requests - official copies, official searches and searches of the index, map - with more than 89% automated and available instantly. For those that required manual intervention, most were completed within three days. The applications that were not completed within three days were because we needed more information from the customer to complete them (such as a search affecting a whole shopping centre where the customer wants freehold and leasehold titles revealed on a plan). In these rare circumstances. the customer was contacted throughout the process.

Non-urgent post-completion applications to make a change in the Land Register can take slightly longer to complete. Last year, nearly 24% of applications to update the register were automated and completed within minutes, with nearly 65% completed within one month. The more complex applications, such as those registering land or property for the first time, are those that take the longest due to their complexity. While the legal interests of the applicant are protected from the moment we receive the application, regardless of how long it takes to complete, we are currently taking longer to process these applications than we or our customers would like. We have been working hard to address this by building capacity and capability, automating our processes where we can, and strengthening our technology foundations. During the past year, we have continued to invest significantly in developing the skills of new and existing caseworkers, which supported a 7% increase in output (applications updated in the register) from the previous year.

To avoid delays that could put a property sale, or any other kind of property transaction, at risk, we offer a free expedite (fast-track) service. If a delay in registration is causing problems, whether legal, financial, or personal, our criteria for expedition are met. We processed nearly 1,300 expedited applications every day, consistently completing more than 94% within 10 working days.

Lay the foundations for our future role in a digital property market and maximise our impact on the wider economy.

This objective supports two areas of Strategy 2022+, providing near real-time property information and providing accessible digital register data. The digital registers of the future – including the Local Land Charges Register – will support a more efficient and transparent property market. We are also investing in the accessibility and interoperability of our data to help support wider economic activity and innovation.

To support a more efficient and transparent property market, we spearheaded the launch of the Digital Property Market Steering Group1 that will drive crucial digital transformation in the land and property market. This newly formed coalition of industry partners will help the property market work better for all by accelerating the adoption of digital technology, while ensuring it is transparent, secure and consumer friendly through collaboration and innovation across the sector. By working in partnership with this new group, HM Land Registry will help drive the digitisation of property market processes to support faster, more efficient and resilient land registration.

Through our Local Land Charges Programme2 by working in partnership with local authorities in England and Wales we also progressed activity to standardise and migrate local land charges register information to one accessible place. Every local authority in England and Wales, with the exception of county councils, is required to hold a local land charges register that records obligations affecting

properties within their administrative area. We’d migrated 89 local authorities by the end of 2023-24 (and a further 7 having been served notice), with 22 delivered during the year, and nearly 5.5 million charges on the register. In total we have delivered approximately 914,000 searches, saving customers an average of £11 per search, and receiving results instantly, an average of 13 days faster than the services we replaced, greatly enhancing land transparency.

We continue to encourage innovation in the property market. We have worked closely with DLUHC as they develop their land transparency policy, enabled by powers granted under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 20233. The policy aim is to enable anyone to be able

to find out not just who owns land, but who controls it, and for that information to be freely available in a digital format. We continue to explore how this might be achieved, in alignment with our strategic goal of developing greater transparency and online access to property information for people and businesses.

Modernise our organisational culture and ways of working

We want to make sure HM Land Registry remains a great place to work for our current and future workforce. The organisation has gone through a period of significant change. We have aligned to Civil Service Modernisation and Reform, including maximising the potential of new ways of working. We’re also transforming how we deliver our services and use our influence to improve how the property market works for all customers, the wider economy and society as a whole.

Our values and commitment to our cultural aspirations have not changed and our people remain at the heart of all that we do. We have continued to focus on enabling activity that has supported us as an organisation to maintain and deliver improvements to our services. Our Health and Wellbeing Action Plan signals our continued commitment to promoting and maintaining a positive and healthy working environment for all our colleagues. We launched our HM Land Registry Campus and Academies that act as a centre of excellence for all learning and development activity. We developed a strategic workforce plan that will ensure we have the right capacity and capability to deliver all our ambitions.

The Workplace Strategy, updated in March 2024, sets out our sustainability ambitions to reduce emissions. Our new facilities management contract includes a greater focus and targets across a range of Net Zero and GGC activity.

We have made progress in developing our IT infrastructure and reducing technical debt. We plan to implement further system improvements in the coming year, including implementing further improvements to our internal systems, automating IT service requests and reducing IT incidents through improved service and automation.

Key performance indicators

Our Business Plan 2022-2025 and Strategy 2022+ are reinforced by a Performance Framework which is designed in accordance with the principles laid out in the Public Value Framework. Last year was a transitional year as we started to move towards a new performance framework that provides a balanced scorecard of indicators reflective of our customer, internal business processes, financial management and people perspectives. These key performance indicators (KPIs) and targets were agreed with our Land Registry Board. We are continuing to build upon this approach.

Our KPIs within our framework are supported by a full ecosystem of performance data, which is reviewed on a continuous basis, ensuring our governance boards have the information they need to support outcome-focused decision-making, including early warning signs when performance is at risk.

Customer perspective

One of our three performance indicators was met and exceeded, one was a near-miss and one missed.

95% guaranteed information services delivered within 3 working days. 99.7% achieved this year. An increase on 99.5% delivered in 2022-23.

We provided a fast and efficient customer experience for those essential pre-completion services that enabled properties to change hands without delay. During last year, we received over 21 million guaranteed information services requests – official copies, official searches and searches of the index, map – with more than 89% automated and available instantly.

95% of post-completion expedited register change applications processed within 10 working days. 94.3% achieved this year. A decrease on 95.8% delivered in 2022-23.

We have continued to deliver the essential services required to keep the property market moving. To avoid delays that could put a property sale, or any other kind of property transaction, at risk, we offer a free expedite (fast-track) service. If a delay in registration is causing problems, whether legal, financial, or personal, our criteria for expedition are met. We received around 450% more expedites at the end of 2023-24 than we did in early 2020. We processed 318,490 expedited applications last year, consistently completing more than 94% within 10 working days. Where we were not able to process an application within 10 working days, we contacted customers to ensure we still met their needs, so a property transaction was never put at risk.

77% of customers rating our ability to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the Land Register as 8 to 10. 71%* achieved this year. A decrease on 72% achieved in 2022-23.

We measure customer trust by conducting a quarterly survey that tracks the percentage of customers rating our ability to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the register as 8 to 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10). Performance has been broadly consistent over the years with 71% of professional customers rating us as good to excellent. We know that integrity and accuracy is impacted by the speed of our service and the associated symptoms, which is why we are continuing to focus on improving the speed of our services and reducing the age of the oldest application. In the UK Customer Satisfaction Index of Public Services, we are above the Public Services (National) sector average for customer satisfaction and trust.**

*How would you rate Land Registry at ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the registers? Base Size Q4 23/24 – all respondents weighted data (excluding ‘Don’t Know’) 441. Source: Savanta

**Source: The Institute of Customer Service, January 2024

Internal business processes

Two of our four performance indicators were met and exceeded, one was a near-miss and one missed.

Reduce the age of 95% of each outstanding post- completion application type to 19 months or less. 17.5 months achieved at the end of this year. A decrease from 19.9 months in 2022-23.

The median time applications take to change the register (excluding time awaiting customer responses and other third-party action) has improved to 13 days this year from 16 days last year. We know that the time it takes to process our oldest, most complex applications causes issues for our customers and the speed of our service is our top priority, as set out in our Business Plan 2022-25. We continued to make every effort to improve processing times, in particular for our most complex applications. These include multi-title applications submitted by developers, or major infrastructure projects. They also include registering property for the first time, transferring part of an existing title or lodging a new lease. Our biggest operating constraint is the capacity and capability of our caseworkers, especially to process these older and most complex applications. To address this we recruited more than 300 caseworkers last year, blending new talent alongside our experienced caseworkers. We also invested in developing the skills of more than 950 caseworkers through centralised courses and Land Registration Academy, including around 558 people who had been promoted. We are starting to see improvements despite the high levels of demand for our services over the last two years.

Our caseworkers have processed 18% more register change applications this year, compared with last year. In the year ahead we are focused on building on this momentum to improve the speed of service for customers further and reduce the age of applications.

Increase total manual output (measured by total daily average weighted output) to 29,000 units. 37,174 units achieved this year. An increase on 32,185 delivered in 2022-23.

We measured our productivity through the number of applications that required a manual intervention to be completed (output) in the register on a daily basis. Due to the different types and complexity of applications we receive, and therefore the length of time each application takes to complete, we apply a weighting to take account for the different circumstances of each application. We output 16% more applications per day at the end of 2023 than we did at the end of 2022.

Maintain control of the number of outstanding post- completion applications to 552,000. 572,000 achieved at the end of this year. An increase on 514,000 in 2022-23.

As outlined in our Strategy 2022+, the cyclical nature of the property market means we have traditionally gone through periods in which we amass a number of post- completion applications. These are where a change to an existing title is needed which includes a range of services that usually take place once a property has been sold, after stamp duty land tax has been paid and the property has exchanged hands. The legal interests of the applicant are protected from the moment we receive the application, regardless of how long it then takes to complete. We have chosen to prioritise the oldest applications as we know this matters most to our customers. To avoid delays that could put a property sale, or any other kind of property transaction, at risk, we offer a free expedite (fast-track) service. If a delay in registration is causing problems, whether legal, financial, or personal, our criteria for expedition are met.

Migrate data from a further 35 local authorities to the digital Local Land Charges Register. 22 this year. increasing the total number to 89.

We continue to make progress with completing the national Local Land Charges Register for England and Wales, with 89 local authorities live on the service by the end of 2023-24, 22 of which were delivered during the year. A series of challenges with local authority suppliers across the second half of the year limited the pace of completion. Performance by March 2023 was recovering with 11 local authorities completed, and performance per quarter should remain at that level into next year. We therefore expect around 137 local authorities to have migrated to the service by the end of 2024-25.

Financial management.

Our performance indicator was met and exceeded.

Deliver our services within 3% of our agreed Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL). -0.8%. 99.2% of RDEL budget invested in our services this year. An increase of 2.2% compared with 2022-23.

Our Departmental Expenditure Limit budget is set by HM Treasury and is voted on by Parliament at the start of the financial year. The majority of our expenditure is on day-to-day business operations, otherwise known as ‘Resource (RDEL)’. We successfully delivered our services within our delegated budget, demonstrating public value for money and effective control of public expenditure.

People

Our performance indicator was met and exceeded.

60% Employee Engagement Index. 62% this year. A decrease on 65% delivered in 2022-23.

The Employee Engagement Index is captured through the annual Civil Service People Survey and is a measure of how proud staff feel working for HM Land Registry, whether they would recommend it as a great place to work, whether they feel a strong personal attachment, and whether they feel it inspires and motivates them to do the best in their job and achieve its objectives. The index was 62%, three percentage points lower compared with 2022 and similar to pre- pandemic levels. The scores have dropped slightly, partly due to the artificially high scores we experienced during and after the pandemic, and also due to changes we have introduced to improve customer service and focus on our speed of service. We have agreed key areas of focus within our culture maturity model in which we are seeking further improvements in supporting a high-performance culture. These include building a sense of purpose for colleagues, promoting inclusivity, building brilliant teams, prioritising care about customers and developing inspiring leaders.

Financial review

HM Land Registry has been funded through the Parliamentary Estimates process since the revocation of trading fund status on 1 April 2020. HM Land Registry’s costs are set out in the Statement of Consolidated Net Expenditure (SoCNE) and our Statement of Financial Position (SoFP) sets out our balance sheet position as at 31 March 2024. All fees, charges and commercial income are captured through our Trust Statement and surrendered to HM Treasury (HMT). Detailed financial statements for both can be found on pages 83 to 86 and pages 110 to 112. In 2023-24 there have not been any significant changes in Financial Reporting Standards.

Our key financial objective in 2023-24 has remained to continue investing in short-term capacity and capabilities needed to service the day-to-day demand for our services alongside the longer-term investment required to make sure those services become more resilient to market volatility in the longer-term.

We have invested significantly in our capacity and capability to try to keep up with this demand. This investment has been managed within our overall parliamentary control totals with underspends against both Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits (RDEL) and Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits (CDEL). We underspent against our control totals by £2.2m against RDEL and £1.3m against CDEL.

Summary table 2023-24	Outturn	Supplementary
Estimate Budget
In £000	Total	Total
Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL)
Resource: cash*	410,353	412,770
Resource: non- cash*	21,689	21,500
Total resource	432,042	434,270
Capital	48,911	50,200
Total DEL	480,953	484,470
Annually Managed Expenditure (AME)
Resource	(13,094)	19,000
Capital	(412)	0
Total	(13,506)	19,00

*Numbers adjusted to reflect that the IFRS16 depreciation results in cash outflows.

Resource accounts (RDEL) financial review

	2023-24 £m	2022-23 £m
Staff costs	320.2	286.8
Purchase of goods and services	80.6	84.9
Depreciation and amortisation charges*	27.1	18.9
Indemnity payments including legal costs**	2.3	4.7
Total operating expenditure	430.2	395.3
Finance (income)/ expense	1.0	1.1
(Profit)/Loss on disposal of non- current assets	0.0	0.2
Net resource expenditure for the year	431.2	396.6
Other provisions utilised	0.0	0.0
Total RDEL	431.2	396.6

Staff costs

We recruited more expert colleagues and funded increased overtime to help manage demand for our services. Overall, staff costs increased from £286.8m in 2022-23 to £320.2m in 2023-24. This increase is driven by two key factors: the non-consolidated £1,500 payments made to all staff as announced by Cabinet Office, and the annual pay award (made in line with the Civil Service pay remit guidance).

The key areas of spend and their movements from 2022- 23 to 2023-24 were:

• IT and professional services, including maintenance of equipment and licences, were £29.9m which is a slight decrease of £0.6m from 2022-23;
• accommodation costs decreased by £1.7m to total£14.0m due to work performed to reduce the running costs of our buildings; and
• other staff costs remained consistent with the prior year by only increasing by £0.2m to £11.1m

Depreciation and amortisation charges

Depreciation increased by £6.9m predominately due to the £30.4m of assets being brought into use 2022-23 and £28.9m being recognised in 2023-24. The assets being constructed and then being brought into use by HM Land Registry mainly relate to local authorities going live on the LLC register (the number of which has increased from 23 local authorities in 2021-22 to 96 by the end of 2023-24).

Indemnity payments including legal costs

Our non-staff costs also include the impact of our state-backed guarantee of title, which helps to underpin the integrity of the register. It provides protection for victims of fraud or error. In 2023-24, £2.2m was paid out against 655 claims, compared with £3.5m and 627 claims in 2022-23.

Finance costs and disposal of non-current assets We incurred £1.0m of costs relating to interest on finance leases, which is consistent with 2022-23. There were no significant disposals of non-current assets.

Resource Annually Managed Expenditure

We calculate our indemnity provision with the support of the Government Actuary Department utilising HMT discount rates, which is the most significant assumption underpinning the provision. The indemnity provision is funded through Resource Annually Managed Expenditure (RAME) due to the inherent uncertainty of claims. Further information on outstanding claims and Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) provisions – including sensitivity analysis that reflects the estimated nature of the IBNR liability and susceptibility of the provision to fluctuation – can be found in note 14 to the accounts.

In 2023-24, we received a RAME credit of £12.5m, following a decrease in the indemnity provision primarily due to a change in the HMT discount rates applied to the provision. The discount rates applied are dictated by HMT and are inflation linked. The other main change to the provision this year is the removal of the COVID-19 contingency reserve, which was valued at £2.0m. The total net change in the indemnity provision, provided by the Government Actuary Department, was a decrease of £13.2m.

Capital expenditure (CDEL)

Total capital expenditure in 2023-24 was £48.76m, which relates to IT, software and capitalisation of LLC development costs. The CDEL underspend of £1.3m against budget related primarily to re-phasing of the LLC programme timetable.

Capital Annually Managed Expenditure

HMLR was able to release £0.4m of its Capital AME reserve, following the utilisation of £0.9m of its dilapidations provision following an office move.

Fees and charges

We collect all fees and charges at the point of application and surrender them to HMT upon completion of the work. This income is reported in a separate annual Trust Statement. The property market in England and Wales has become subdued over the last financial year, and the associated reduced demand for our statutory services has affected the fees we received, which were down £53.0m compared with the previous year. The subdued market has enabled an internal focus to target older, more complex stock.

In 2023-24 we collected fees relating to registration of title of £315.0 million with £312.7 million worth of applications processed during the year. The net impact on the balance of Fees Received in Advance (FREDA) of all of our fee-generating services is a net increase of £2.7m, taking the total to £174.8m. The increase in this balance over the year is due to higher average fees per application, which contributed to £12.4m increase in FREDA which was offset by greater output of more complex work decreasing FREDA by £9.7m. The year-end balance has decreased from an in-year peak of £182.0m and will continue to be worked down as we increase our daily capacity above the number of applications that are received each day.

A total of £230.0m of recognised fees related to our post-completion registration services. Within registration services £137.1m related to updates to existing titles in the register (such as change of ownership), which accounted for around 43% of our total fees. A total of £92.6m related to the creation of new register entries (such as first registrations, transfer of part and new leases) which accounted for 29% of total fees, up from 20% in the previous financial year. Our other major income stream came from guaranteed query services, which are critical steps in every property transaction. These are pre-completion services that are vital to the running of the property market and are largely delivered instantaneously. In 2023-24, guaranteed query services accounted for £62.6m (20% of total fees). Information services enable users to go online to get a snapshot of any registered plot of land or property. These generated £20.0m in 2023-24 (6% of total fees). We also provide other land and property services.

Our digital Land Charges service protects interests in unregistered land and we maintain the bankruptcy index for England and Wales. Our Agricultural Credits Department maintains a register of short-term loans secured on farming stock and other agricultural assets. Our LLC Programme is a national, instantly accessible register of information held by the local authorities that have migrated onto the programme. Together these generated £6.5m in 2023-24 (2% of total fees).

Other income

Additionally, we offer commercial data services for customers in the property market and wider economy. Income from the commercial release of our data generated £4.0m in 2023-24.

2024-25

The next financial year is the final year of Spending Review 2021 where we received a three-year settlement for both RDEL and CDEL. The longer-term certainty allows us to continue to invest in frontline capacity and longer-term improvements while accelerating the rollout of the LLC Programme. We have been allocated RDEL of £383.7m in 2024-25. Our CDEL is £59.1m in 2024-25.

Glossary

Agricultural Credits Register	A register against which provides a means of ensuring security for lending over farm assets such as livestock and equipment.
Application	Applying for the registration of unregistered land, updating registered land or property titles, or applying for information from HM Land Registry.
Application Programming Interface (API)	Enables companies to open up their applications’ data and functionality to external third-party developers, business partners and internal departments within their companies.
Artificial intelligence (AI)	Intelligence and learning demonstrated by machines.
Business Gateway	The Business Gateway Application Programming Interface allows customers to seamlessly access our services from within their case management systems and automate repetitive processes.
Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (Capital DEL, CDEL)	Investment in internally-generated software, IT equipment and estates.
Critical National Infrastructure	A term used to describe processes, systems, facilities, technologies, networks, assets and services essential to the nation’s health, safety, security or economic wellbeing and the effective functioning of government.
Data economy	A global digital ecosystem in which data is gathered, organized, and exchanged by a network of vendors for the purpose of deriving value from the accumulated information.
Digitisation	The process of converting information into a digital (computer-readable) format.
Digital identity	A virtual form of identity which reduces the time, effort and expense that sharing physical documents can take when people need to provide legal proof of who they are.
Digital transformation	The adoption of digital technology by a company. Common goals for its implementation are to improve efficiency, value or innovation.
Digital Registration Service	An HM Land Registry portal service allowing applications to be submitted digitally where the data is automatically checked before it is lodged.
Expedites/expedite services	Customers can request HM Land Registry processes an application urgently.
First registration	The requirement to register unregistered freehold and leasehold estates in land.
Geospatial Commission	An expert committee, sponsored by the Cabinet Office, that sets the UK’s geospatial strategy and promotes the best use of geospatial data.
Geospatial	Data and information associated with a particular location or place.
Geovation	The practice of using location data and intelligence to help identify opportunities and create solutions.
Geovation Accelerator Programme	The scheme supported by HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey providing PropTech and geospatial start-ups with grant funding, access to data, technical expertise and business support.
Greening Government Commitments	The actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment in the period 2021 to 2025.
Guaranteed information services	Services that provide information and results which come with a state guarantee.
Home Buying and Selling Group	An informal mix of people across the property, legal and finance sectors working together to improve the home buying and selling process for consumers.
Land Charges	Interests in unregistered land that are capable of being protected by entry in the Land Charges Register.
Land Charges Register	A register that contains the following information: a register of land charges, a register of pending actions and pending actions in bankruptcy, a register of writs and orders effecting land and writs and orders in bankruptcy, a register of deeds of arrangement affecting land and a register of annuities.
Land Register	Records the ownership of land and property in England and Wales.
Land Registration Academy	The staff training centre of excellence at HM Land Registry.
Land Registry Advisory Council	An advisory board that ensures stakeholders’ interests are considered when developing policies, services and products. It provides an opportunity for information exchange and discussion, drawing on the collective knowledge and expertise of the members.
Land Registry Industry Forum	A cross-section of customers and stakeholders within the property market who work together to find new ways to improve the conveyancing process.
Local Land Charges (LLC) Register	A statutory register that contains local authority information about the use and enjoyment of properties. It includes things such as listed building status, tree preservation orders and other environmental protections.
MapSearch	An online mapping tool allowing customers to establish quickly whether land and property in England or Wales is registered.
Net Zero	Achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
Official copy	Copies of deeds and documents filed with us, including title registers and title plans, which are guaranteed as being accurate and are admissible as evidence as if they were the original.
Official search	Allows people such as homebuyers or mortgage lenders to have their purchase, lease or charge prioritised for completion over applications lodged subsequently
Open data	Data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone.
PropTech	The use of technology to help individuals and companies research, buy, sell and manage real estate.
Register create application	Any application that leads to the creation of a completely new register, such as a transfer of part of an existing title, a new lease or registration of land for the first time.
Register update	Any application to change the register of the whole of an existing property title, including new mortgages, name changes, transfers and discharges.
Register view	Viewing the current version of the register.
Requisition/request for information	Where HM Land Registry has to make enquiries to the applicant on an application because information or evidence is missing or incorrect and so cannot be processed.
Restriction	An entry that limits HM Land Registry from updating the register unless specified conditions are met.
Search of the Index Map (SIM)	An application to find out whether a piece of land is registered, and, if so, what the title number is, under r.145, LRR 2003.
Search for land and property information	A service allowing customers to download copies of the property summary, title plan and title register for properties in England and Wales.
Senior Executive Team	The executive team that handles the day-to-day running of HM Land Registry.
Title	The evidence of a person’s right to property.
View Applications	A free-to-use service within the HM Land Registry portal which allows users to view all the applications made using the portal, as well as checking the status and downloading all relevant documentation relating to each application.

Simon Hayes
Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar
30 August 2024