Land Registry Updates

Conveyancing Transactions

Land Registry Updates – Conveyancing Transactions

HM Land Registry have today, 4 May 2020 introduced temporary changes in relation to verifying a person’s identity and for signing deeds.

Identity verification

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, identification verification can now be undertaken by people who work, or have worked, in certain professions including:

  • retired conveyancers, chartered legal executives, solicitors and barristers
  • bank officials and regulated financial advisers
  • medical doctors, dentists and veterinary surgeons
  • chartered and certified accountants
  • police officers and officers in the UK armed forces
  • teachers and college and university teaching staff
  • Members of Parliament and Welsh Assembly members
  • UK civil servants of senior executive officer (SEO) grade or above
  • magistrates

The verification can also be done by way of a video call.

 

Signing deeds

The Land Registry will now accept deeds that have been signed using the ‘Mercury signing approach’; a signature page will need to be signed in pen and witnessed in person (not by a video call). The signature will then need to be captured, with a scanner or a camera, to produce a PDF, JPEG or other suitable copy of the signed signature page. Each party then sends a single email to their conveyancer with attaches the final agreed copy of the document and the copy of the signed signature page.