Land Registry delays hamper house moves as some homeowners wait FIVE YEARS

Delays at His Majesty's Land Registry are now so long that they are interfering with homeowners' ability to sell or remortgage, with one mortgage broker claiming to have worked on a property purchase that has still not been registered after five years.

All property ownership changes must be logged with the Land Registry, which operates a public register holding details on the owners, their mortgage and the sale price.

The Government body claims that just over 30 per cent of applications to update the register are automated and completed within minutes. These are largely simple changes, such as removing a mortgage from the register when someone has paid it off.

Over half of the remaining applications to update the register, such as changing a name or transferring a property title, take 11 weeks to complete, with most completed in about seven months.

New build homes can be a particular problem, with 51 per cent of new applications and 'complex' cases taking between 12 and 18 months, and nearly 4 per cent taking longer than that.

In Cheshire, a cluster of homes built more than two years ago, CB Homes Kingsley, still has no updates recorded at the Land Registry, according to research by the news agency Newspage.

And one mortgage broker, Riz Malik of R3 Wealth, says one of his clients is seeing their remortgage application hampered because the property's title has not been updated since they bought it five years ago.

'In the age of artificial intelligence, I struggle to understand why there are such lengthy delays,' Malik told Newspage.

'I have a case on my desk where, five years later, it still has not been resolved delaying the remortgage process and impacting my client.

'They system is broken and needs to be fixed urgently - especially if we want to speed up the house buying process.'

On the Government website, the Land Registry states: 'We recognise that some of our processing times are not what we want them to be and improving the speed of our services is our top priority.

'We continue to make every effort to achieve this, including through recruitment, developing, and making strides to increase our underlying productivity.'

'In 2024/25 we processed more than 95 per cent of expedited applications within 10 working days.'

Justin Moy, managing director at broker EHF Mortgages says he has clients who are unable to remortgage because of the Land Registry delays.

'Delays long enough to impact the first remortgage after a purchase shows exactly how far behind the Land Registry is with its backlog,' says Moy.

'This has started to cost clients who have had to stay on their standard variable rate whilst the solicitors attempt to rectify this.

'Given the Government has set aside billions in grants and incentives for foreign investment into AI, perhaps they can throw a few coins in the Land Registry tin whilst they look at their small change. This is what hurts our country, and costs our borrowers.'

If delays to your application might cause problems or put a property sale or any kind of property transaction at risk, homeowners can request an expedited service for free from the Land Registry.

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It says it has helped over 200,000 applicants this year, with most of their cases being completed within 10 days.

However, this means non-expedited applications simply get pushed further to the back of the queue.

Delayed register updates also cause problems for organisations that rely on accurate sold price data.

According to Emma Jones, managing director at mortgage broker When The Bank Says No, this is having a knock-on effect on borrowers.

'When people come to remortgage, for example, [banks don't have access to] recent sold prices in their area which can drag the valuation down,' she says.

'That can push borrowers into a higher loan-to-value bracket, which means a higher interest rate or less money available for things like home improvements.

'It's one of those issues that borrowers don't see, but it's definitely holding them back and causing problems.'

Property developers and investors are also being impacted by the delays, according to Michelle Lawson, director at mortgage broker Lawson Financial.

She says: 'It is impacting investors who are buying and refinancing, as the Land Registry needs expediting for a mortgage application.

'Some lenders will allow applications backed up with the TR1 form, but others need the property registered prior to application.

'In this day and age this should not be the problem that it is, and has been for so long.'

When contacted, HM Land Registry responded by saying that no property transaction should be impacted due to delays.

Its spokesman said: 'HM Land Registry processes more than 100,000 applications every day – most pre-sale searches are instant, and changes to the register (which typically happen after completion) usually take around 12 weeks.

'We set a goal that, by March 2025, we would be processing 95 per cent of applications within 12 months of their submission. We surpassed that goal ahead of schedule.

'Whilst a very small proportion of applications (around 2 per cent of our work) are taking longer than we would like, we can expedite (fast-track) applications free of charge if a delay would cause legal, financial, or personal problems or put a property transaction at risk.'