Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will hold discussions with the Land Registry on the potential impact of errors in the processing of title deeds on leaseholders.

HM Land Registry (HMLR) operates a statutory indemnity scheme under Schedule 8 to the Land Registration Act 2002. Where an individual suffers loss as a result of a qualifying mistake in the register, they may be entitled to compensation. HMLR also has established processes to correct mistakes in the register when they are identified.

It should be noted that almost 20% of applications result in requests for more information, referred to as ‘requisition’ letters, when there is missing or incorrect information. Depending on the complexity of the issue and responsiveness of all parties, this can generate significant delays of multiple months to the application.

To improve the quality of applications, HMLR are sharing avoidable requisition data to help customers see where issues are arising and focus their improvement activity where it can have the greatest impact.

HMLR also offer free guidance, training and dedicated support to help firms submit more complete and accurate applications. Their training can be found on gov.uk here.