Consumers are still raising concerns about the use of electronic signatures and transfers being used in conveyancing transactions, the Land Registry has claimed.
Offering its response to the consultation paper E-Conveyancing Secondary Legislation - part 3, the body said it would proceed by using electronic lodgement and despatch.
"As a result, we are writing off development expenditure relating to electronic charges, signatures and transfers and making a number of other accounting adjustments in the annual report to better reflect the current status of our services," explained Malcolm Dawson, chief land registrar and chief executive.
6 July 2011
Friday, July 08, 2011
Saturday, July 02, 2011
UK Land Registry puts e-transfers 'on hold'
National registry for England and Wales to concentrate on automating delivery systems after stakeholders express concern about electronic transfers
Land Registry has scrapped plans to use electronic transfers with e-signatures and to extend the use of electronic legal charges. This follows a consultation that concluded that customers were "unconvinced" by the process.
The agency launched the consultation in March last year to see whether its stakeholders, primarily conveyancers, lenders, financial institutions, regulatory and representative bodies and other property professionals, were receptive to the idea.
Malcolm Dawson, chief land registrar and chief executive of Land Registry, says in the new document that it found customers had faced a number of problems when using the service, and had serious security concerns.
"These problems have contributed to people's doubts about proceeding further down the e-conveyancing road at this time, especially when that journey is taking us towards the cornerstone of the whole electronic system: e-transfers," he says.
"This consultation has told us that many of our customers and stakeholders are unconvinced that the time is right to offer e-transfers. They would want to see e-charges and e-signatures sorted out first and they have not yet been persuaded that e-transfers are desirable or achievable in a time of low property sales and increased risk of fraud."
The e-transfer proposals would have made it possible to carry out the main conveyancing steps in the sale and purchase of a house electronically instead of using paper documents.
Dawson reveals that the agency will now focus on automating its delivery systems, so that customers can send in electronically documents that have been prepared "in a traditional way". Although the document does not explain this further, it implies that it will be able to process paper documents that have been scanned.
"This outcome will, I am sure, disappoint those who were enthusiastic about moving straight to a fully electronic conveyancing system. But, after listening to a wide range of people, we believe that the solution we're now proposing is practical, sensible and in tune with the times," he adds.
In the agency's annual report and accounts for 2010-11 also published on 30 June, Dawson explains that although customers had particular concerns about e-signatures and transfers, the percentage of transactions delivered electronically continued to increase in 2010-11, with over 70% of lenders using its electronic discharges services.
"Our current range of e-services is testament to our technological successes," he says, adding that it is still important to acknowledge the problems that customers had encountered.
The Guardian 2 July 2011
Land Registry has scrapped plans to use electronic transfers with e-signatures and to extend the use of electronic legal charges. This follows a consultation that concluded that customers were "unconvinced" by the process.
The agency launched the consultation in March last year to see whether its stakeholders, primarily conveyancers, lenders, financial institutions, regulatory and representative bodies and other property professionals, were receptive to the idea.
Malcolm Dawson, chief land registrar and chief executive of Land Registry, says in the new document that it found customers had faced a number of problems when using the service, and had serious security concerns.
"These problems have contributed to people's doubts about proceeding further down the e-conveyancing road at this time, especially when that journey is taking us towards the cornerstone of the whole electronic system: e-transfers," he says.
"This consultation has told us that many of our customers and stakeholders are unconvinced that the time is right to offer e-transfers. They would want to see e-charges and e-signatures sorted out first and they have not yet been persuaded that e-transfers are desirable or achievable in a time of low property sales and increased risk of fraud."
The e-transfer proposals would have made it possible to carry out the main conveyancing steps in the sale and purchase of a house electronically instead of using paper documents.
Dawson reveals that the agency will now focus on automating its delivery systems, so that customers can send in electronically documents that have been prepared "in a traditional way". Although the document does not explain this further, it implies that it will be able to process paper documents that have been scanned.
"This outcome will, I am sure, disappoint those who were enthusiastic about moving straight to a fully electronic conveyancing system. But, after listening to a wide range of people, we believe that the solution we're now proposing is practical, sensible and in tune with the times," he adds.
In the agency's annual report and accounts for 2010-11 also published on 30 June, Dawson explains that although customers had particular concerns about e-signatures and transfers, the percentage of transactions delivered electronically continued to increase in 2010-11, with over 70% of lenders using its electronic discharges services.
"Our current range of e-services is testament to our technological successes," he says, adding that it is still important to acknowledge the problems that customers had encountered.
The Guardian 2 July 2011
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