In
late July, when commenting on the Land Registry’s
proposals, David Lammy, Under-Secretary of State at the Department
for Constitutional Affairs, said that “when it comes
to the delivery of public services, e-conveyancing is one
of the Government’s high priorities.
These proposals present a clear and coherent framework for
the future direction of the programme, and I have agreed that
the Land Registry should continue to lead the development of
e-conveyancing in England and Wales”. |
These
key proposals are as follows |
- Access will be via public and private
channels. The Land Registry is to develop its own access
channel and will promote added value commercial channels
alongside. These commercial channels will no doubt be search
and utility providers at the least.
|
- For the Land Registry to develop
channels that will link all participants in a conveyancing
transaction, co-ordinating the milestones of exchange and
completion and automatically updating the Land Registry’s
files. This will provide transparency and no doubt pressure
on any elements of a chain that are not performing.
|
- That an agency bank ”will
set up an electronic funds transfer service to be linked
to a central service facilitating all money movements associated
with property transactions“. This would appear to remove
some of the delays on completion day where there is a long
chain. Presumably the Land Registry is to be in charge!
|
| The
aim of the Land Registry is to pilot e-conveyancing in the
Spring of 2006 with a view to a roll out programme in 2007.
Here at Elgee Pinks, we have always had an ability to transfer
funds electronically. We will be keeping up to date with
these developments and in conjunction with our software supplier,
ensure that we are fully able to embrace these developments
as they occur. |
