Land Registry surveys property web portal

Land Registry is to test a web portal that allows home buyers, sellers and their legal representatives to view all transactions in their purchasing chain.

The government department has announced a two-year contract extension with consultancy Hedra, which will provide advice on the project.

It is also working with IT supplier IBM to develop the Chain Matrix application.
Parties involved in the transfer of property will be able to access the information via a secure e-conveyancing portal, and check that completion will go ahead according to plan.

‘At the moment, if you are a buyer or seller in England or Wales it is really hard to find out what is going on, as there is not enough information and the process can be slow,’ said Julie Barry, e-conveyancing stakeholder relationship manager at the Land Registry.

‘The matrix will show the number of properties involved, their position in the chain and their progress through the different stages of the buying process.’

Land Registry will test the system in parts of England and Wales this year.

The organisation hopes the system will eventually integrate with legal firms’ case management systems. Details of buyers and sellers will remain secret for privacy reasons, but their legal representatives will be listed.

‘We hope the system will help automate exchange of contracts, completions and payments, but that is still several years down the line,’ said Barry.

The government department is also seeking expertise from IT firms to build a security platform to protect information kept on £3tn worth of property in England and Wales, before publicly launching the service.

The system will include public key infrastructure to issue digital certificates to people accessing the system, as well as using identity management and authorisation software.

‘The Land Register holds 20 million records of ownership and this register is guaranteed by state,’ said Barry.

‘If there is a mistake and people make a claim on it, it is our responsibility. It is a big issue for us, and we want to protect that valuable information.’