Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 41 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 Policy Costings document, what plans he has for the allocation of the £225m that is expected to be made from the increase in Land Registry caseworker capacity.

As part of the Spending Review, Her Majesty’s Land Registry (HMLR) is investing in additional caseworker capacity in the short term to address a backlog of cases for updating or changing the Land Register. Processing these outstanding registrations will provide additional exchequer revenue.

Over the Spending Review period we will also be investing in digital transformation and automation at HMLR to provide better, faster and more efficient services for customers.

This includes a new national digital register, which will reduce the time and costs for property buyers to receive an official search. The roll out of this service will reduce the average time it takes for customers to receive a search to minutes.