Backlogs at the Land Registry that began building during the pandemic have still not been cleared, are delaying sales and costing property professionals thousands of pounds, it has been claimed.

Forty per cent of cases are now taking more than a month to be processed and the wait for more complex cases is even longer, with 64% experiencing delays of over a year.

Examples of more complex cases include those registering a property for the first time, the division of existing titles or lodging a new lease, a group of unhappy conveyancers have said.

Delays

The problem is particularly acute for developers and social housing providers, just as the Government is trying to ramp up housebuilding.

According to The Times the Land Registry receives around 20,000 requests per day but has less than 7,000 employees.

They are in the process of digitising the service but currently only 30% of applications are automated.

The question remains as to why there are these incessant backlogs and what can be done to address the issue.”

Speaking anonymously to Today’s Conveyancer, one disgruntled conveyancer said: “The Land Registry has thousands of transactions awaiting their attention for registration, whilst clients and mortgage lenders are left without their interests being registered, sometimes for years on end!

“The question remains as to why there are these incessant backlogs and what can be done to address the issue.

“These issues are not new to the Land Registry and have been prevalent for the last three decades, despite HMLR having access to unlimited funds and expertise.”

Read more about problems at the Land Registry.