HM Land Registry to save 300,000 hrs of citizens’ time with new automation tech

HM Land Registry, the government department responsible for maintaining the national register of property titles, is set to introduce automation technology designed to detect and prevent errors in property registration. The initiative is expected to save citizens up to 300,000 hours over the next three years.

As a non-ministerial government department, HM Land Registry maintains the property register for England and Wales, overseeing 26.5 million ownership records covering properties worth approximately £8 trillion.

Starting this Autumn, the registry’s Business Gateway and Digital Registration Service platforms will be upgraded with enhanced technology to identify and flag simple administrative mistakes - such as errors in names or title numbers - before applications are submitted.

If a user attempts to submit an application containing such mistakes, the system will block submission, highlight the issue, and prompt the user to correct it before proceeding. This proactive approach aims to reduce delays caused by unnecessary manual reviews and eliminate avoidable requisitions that currently prolong the process.

“This is another key milestone in improving our customer service and processing times. By preventing errors upfront, automating routine tasks, and reducing unnecessary correspondence, we will save time for both our customers and our caseworkers," said Mark Gray, Chief Transformation & Technology Officer at HM Land Registry. "And this is just the next step - there is much more to come as we continue modernising and automating our services.”

Over the coming months, HM Land Registry will work with its existing third-party integrators to transition to the upgraded system. By late 2026, the agency plans to further enhance the registration service by introducing additional checks on the data contained in transfer and charge deeds.