By Legal Futures Associate Advanced [1]
HM Land Registry has announced that from November 2022 it will change the way it accepts Applications to Change the Register. This is only 12 short months away, and Advanced can to help you plan for this change so you can minimise any disruption to your firm.
What is changing?
Currently there are several available options to lodge an application (AP1 form) at the Land Registry:
- Complete an AP1 form in hard copy and post it to Land Registry
- Upload as a pdf attachment to the Land Registry portal
- Use a digital platform like Cloud Forms to submit data and attachments directly to Land Registry (within your case management system or as a standalone).
From November 2022, the pdf upload option will no longer be available. You will be able to go into the Land Registry portal to use the digital AP1 service, but you will need to answer a series of questions in order to provide a valid dataset for land.
What is the impact?
In addition to losing the option of an AP1 upload, you will no longer be able to prepare an AP1 by populating the document directly from case management, and uploading it to the Land Registry as a pdf. You’ll need to find an alternative solution.
Those using digital AP1 forms, like those provided by Cloud Forms, (Advanced’s digital form library solution), are not affected. They will continue to benefit from efficient pre-population of an AP1, directly from case data.
Land Registry have provided one year’s notice to ensure users of their services are fully prepared for their revised requirements.
When do you need to take action?
We know that the period before Christmas is a very busy time for conveyancers, so we recommend that you book some time in January to analyse your post-completion practices. You may find that you can use this change as a catalyst to introduce a more efficient, automated process.
Cloud Forms offers the trusted functionality of our desktop forms software but enhances performance with the efficiency of Cloud technology. This platform provides a flexible, all-in-one solution with forms in both paper and digital format to make the submission process much smoother. Cloud Forms can be easily integrated with the additional systems your firm relies upon.
If you would like to find out more about moving to digital forms now please contact us here. [2]