Treasury to create £26m fund for councils migrating local land charges service to HM Land Registry

The Treasury is to set up a £26m fund for councils as part of its drive to establish a national Local Land Charges Register.

In December last year the Government set out its ambition to migrate all local authorities in England and Wales onto the central register by 2025.

It claimed the latest fund would make that target more achievable and would “ensure the homebuying process becomes quicker and simpler for everyone”.

Local authorities who transfer their local land charges data to HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges (LLC) Register within an agreed timescale will receive transition payments. In addition they will continue to receive existing burdens payments.

“This means the overall financial support available to local authorities is now more than £40m,” HM Land Registry said.

Karina Singh, HM Land Registry Director of Transformation, said: “We understand the uncertain economic landscape facing many local authorities and the resourcing issues this creates. In the UK, property remains one of the single largest investments many people make. We want to help buyers get the information they need, in a faster and simpler manner.

“Research suggests that 6% of property transactions fail, costing between £700 and £2,700 per transaction. By enabling earlier access to LLC information these costs should reduce, making the conveyancing process better for all parties.”

HM Land Registry said the payments for meeting scheduled milestones would give councils greater financial certainty that they can meet incidental costs, when moving their service to the LLC Register.