21 October 2003 34/03	Milestone for Land Registry as new Framework for Land Registration gets underway Land Registry today (21 October) commemorated an important milestone in its 141-year history when David Lammy MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Constitutional Affairs, marked the successful launch of new legislation which has completely replaced the statutory framework for land registration in England and Wales, in place since 1925. The Land Registration Act 2002 and Land Registration Rules 2003, which underpin and support the Act, will enable Land Registry to meet the demands of its customers in the twenty-first century. David Lammy said: Land Registrys database is the biggest of its kind in Europe, if not the World. It is quite a remarkable achievement then, that all of the many changes required by the new Act and Rules were loaded into the live system over the course of one weekend without any major incident or disruption of customer service. The Minister went on to say: The final year of the 1925 legislation proved to be a milestone year for the organisation in more ways than one. Not only were all of the Key Performance Targets successfully achieved and exceeded, Land Registry has managed to lay solid foundations for its future and the future of conveyancing in England and Wales. As well as making real progress on major strategic objectives such as completing the Land Register and electronic conveyancing, Land Registry has played a vital role in the implementation of the Land Registration Act 2002. Peter Collis, Chief Land Registrar and Chief Executive, added: The introduction of the Act represents the culmination of an extraordinary effort by an extraordinary number of people: the joint work with the Law Commission on the original proposals; the drafting of the Bill, and securing its passage through Parliament; drafting, consulting on and finalising the Rules (including the new forms) and getting them approved by the Rule Committee and by Ministers. We then embarked on the huge task of preparing all the new practice, education and training materials; training the best part of 8,000 staff and around 20,000 solicitors in the new procedures; dealing with enquiries about how the new legislation will work; and changing pretty much all of our IT systems, which are amongst the largest in the world, with only relatively minor teething problems. Over 500 of our people have been closely involved in various aspects of all this; and almost everyone who works for Land Registry has been, or will be, touched by it.  In addition, we have achieved all of this without allowing our service to our customers to suffer. On the contrary, we are currently dealing with record volumes of work more quickly (often on the same day) and more accurately than ever before, whilst driving stocks down to their lowest level for decades and at the same time completing crucial investment projects such as computerising our last card registers and vectorisation of the index map. The determination that we will always put our customers interests first, has earned us a first-class reputation for service, delivery and excellence; and this reputation will in turn help us to take Land Registry and its people to even greater success in the future.  Ends The Land Registration Act 2002 and Land Registration Rules 2003 came fully into force on 13 October 2003. A new Fee Order prescribing the charges for the registration services contained in the Act came into effect at the same time. The Land Registration Act 2002 received Royal Assent on 26 February 2002. The Land Registration Rules 2003 were laid in Parliament on 5 June 2003. Comprehensive information about the new Act, Rules and Fee Order is available from Land Registrys website www.landregistry.gov.uk/legislation or local Land Registry offices. With the largest property database in Europe, todays Land Registry underpins the economy by guaranteeing ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property. Around 1 million worth of property is processed every minute in England and Wales. Land Registry is a Government Department, Executive Agency and Trading Fund and reports to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor. Land Registry keeps and maintains a register of interests in land for England and Wales. There are 24 offices in England and Wales, each providing land registration services for different counties and unitary authorities. For more information about Land Registry, please visit its website at www.landregistry.gov.uk Press Office 020 7166 4543
Land Registry Head Office Lincolns Inn Fields London WC2A 3PH Tel (direct) 020 7166 4543 Fax 020 7166 4516 www.landregistry.gov.uk
Notes for Editors Contact