Not so much a driver as a hesitant passenger, the Land Registry’s lockdown-influenced change in policy to accept electronically executed documents has had a huge effect on one integral aspect of real estate transactions. The ability to circulate engrossments for electronic signature has reduced the need for a few days’ hiatus at the end of a transaction.
The benefits for clients are tangible – deals can be done faster, momentum is maintained, documents will exist forever digitally, physical storage costs are dramatically reduced and the environmental cost of hundreds of pages making up originals and counterparts, not to mention couriers criss-crossing the country, are eliminated.
The huge power of the Land Registry to bring about such fundamental change should not be underestimated.
Buoyed by the success of this program, on 30 November the Land Registry launched “digital by default”, the next step in digitisation of real estate transactions.
Direct input of data
The Land Registry’s online portal is the way in which most conveyancers interact with the guardian of the England and Wales property register. For some time, in addition to Business Gateway, the Land Registry has allowed two methods for submitting applications electronically.
The first, electronic Document Registration Service (eDRS), sees conveyancers complete the usual Land Registry forms and submit them online as PDFs. The second, named the Digital Registration Service (DRS), requires users to input data directly into the portal instead of completing and uploading the covering application form. Supporting documents are still uploaded as PDFs but the amount of data being directly input by users into the Land Registry’s systems is vastly increased.
The major change from 30 November is the Land Registry’s policy of digital by default. In short, if it is possible to submit an application via the DRS, you should do so.
The only way is up
You might be forgiven for seeing this change and thinking: “So what? One electronic-based system called eDRS is replaced by another called DRS.”
But the progress this signifies cannot be overstated. Land registration is not immune to the challenges the wider business world is facing post-lockdown, with a large backlog of work and resourcing challenges. Property owners in complex transactions can potentially face many months of delays before their names are placed on the register or other changes are effected.
By inputting digitally, the slow transfer of information between paper, PDF and then digital is significantly reduced. Steady advances in legal technology solutions, such as artificial intelligence and document automation, have shown us how formerly labour and time-intensive tasks can be reduced to seconds through strategic use of technology. We expect to see similar results with more Land Registry users defaulting to digital.
Conveyancers used to have to tap information into Form AP1. Now they do so on screen via DRS but this means the Land Registry can automate to the max. For those of us who have been using DRS for a while, we understand the benefits of significantly reduced processing times for certain applications. While there is going to be additional work for Land Registry staff, a lot of the heavy lifting will be done by technology, which should result in an overall improvement in application processing times.
Looking at the other end of the application process, visibility over the status of applications and deadlines to respond to requisitions have been supported for some time via the Land Registry’s View Applications function. Having this online tool gives conveyancers accessible, up-to-date and accurate information to relay to clients, all without the Land Registry having to deal with phone calls and e-mails.
A step forward
DRS is not perfect – digitisation never is. There will be teething issues and problems that will need to be solved (many of which the legal technology market via third-party supplier solutions is already addressing).
Not least among these issues is the ability to save, edit and share draft DRS applications – a critical part of quality and risk control. And, of course, it would have been more straightforward if all applications could be immediately sent via DRS, avoiding users having to identify which channel to use.
But focusing on the “fault” in “default” misses the bigger picture; the Land Registry is choosing to innovate and digitise.
The dropping of a single “e” may seem like the smallest of revolutions, but each step along this road is making the registration process and real estate transactions quicker, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
Defaulting to digital is something that conveyancers and the Land Registry alike must continue to do, embracing change and the possibilities offered by technology.
Joe Geen is a professional support lawyer and Luke Robinson is a legal technologist, both in Eversheds Sutherland’s real estate team
