Corporate report

Appendices

Published 15 July 2021

Applies to England and Wales

The appendices are not subject to audit.

Appendix A

Volumes and workloads 2020/21 and 2019/20

Application intake by type and method of receipt

	2020/21			2019/20
	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services
Bulk register updates (BRUs)	281,575	–	–	971,542	–	–
Total applications excluding BRUs	31,766,162	30,731,661	96.74	34,676,913	32,879,308	94.82
Total applications/products	32,047,737	30,731,661	95.89	35,648,455	32,879,308	92.23
Substantive applications excluding BRUs	4,026,204	3,714,169	92.25	4,904,994	4,423,494	90.18
Preliminary services products	19,325,983	19,238,451	99.55	20,703,603	20,597,854	99.49
Enquiry services applications	8,413,975	7,779,041	92.45	9,068,316	7,857,960	86.66
Total	31,766,162	30,731,661	96.74	34,676,913	32,879,308	94.82

Substantive applications excluding BRUs

	2020/21			2019/20
	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services
First registrations	63,843	0	0	91,093	–	–
Dispositionary first leases	140,863	134,854	95.73	195,432	185,723	95.03
Transfers of part of registered land	166,722	156938	94.13	214,465	200,359	93.42
Dealings of whole with registered land	3,654,776	3,422,377	93.64	4,404,004	4,037,412	91.68
Total	4,026,204	3,714,169	92.25	4,904,994	4,423,494	90.18

Preliminary services products

	2020/21			2019/20
	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services
Official copies1	16,296,002	16,226,566	99.57	17,351,299	17,273,140	99.55
Official searches	2,346,285	2,344,743	99.93	2,588,407	2,585,783	99.90
Official searches of the index map1	683,696	667,142	97.58	763,897	738,931	96.73
Total	19,325,983	19,238,451	99.55	20,703,603	20,597,854	99.49

Enquiry services applications

	2020/21			2019/20
	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services	Total applications/ products received	Applications/ products received through online services	% of applications/ products received through online services
Register views	5,417,240	5,417,240	100	5,591,981	5,591,981	100.00
Title plan views	1,117,284	1,117,284	100	949,475	949,475	100.00
Document views	41,008	41,008	100	50,575	50,575	100.00
Correspondence	214,430	150,944	70.39	305,755	84,446	27.62
Telephone enquiries	571,448	–	–	989,047	–	–
MapSearch downloads	1,052,565	1,052,565	100	1,181,483	1,181,483	100.00
Total	8,413,975	7,779,041	92.45	9,068,316	7,857,960	86.65

The table above sets out the transactional activities for the year, along with comparatives for the previous year. In this financial year we serviced more than 35.6 million applications, fulfilling the requirements of the 2002 Land Registration Act. These form the core of our activities and the revenues associated with them. The table also details our progress towards electronic delivery, in relation to the various types of application we receive. Excluding bulk register updates, the proportion of applications received electronically increased slightly from 93.77% to 94.82%.

Bulk register updates are groups of applications lodged at HM Land Registry affecting a large volume of registered titles, such as a bank changing the address for service on all of its registered charges. The levels of receipt of such applications are volatile in their nature and are therefore separated from other application types in order to avoid distortion of the data.

Note: An official copy application may result in more than one register and/or title plan being supplied.

A search of the index map application may give rise to more than one title number being revealed. For this

reason the number of registers/title plans or the number of title numbers revealed are used as a metric rather than the number of applications themselves. These are termed products.

Appendix B

Land Charges and Agricultural Credits volumes and workloads 2020/21 and 2019/20

The Land Charges Department

The Land Charges Department operates under the authority of the Land Charges Act 1972.

The department maintains registers of Land Charges, pending actions, writs and orders affecting land and other encumbrances registered against the names of owners of property, which are not registered under the Land Registration Acts. The department also maintains the Index of Proprietors’ Names (IOPN). This index can be searched against only on production of the appropriate authority and is used to establish whether any property assets are held against individuals or companies.

Some elements of customer accounts are also managed in the Land Charges Department.

Type of application	Number of applications or names in 2020/21	Number of applications or names in 2019/20
New registrations, rectifications and renewals	13,284	23,637
Cancellations	2,571	5,443
Official searches
– Full searches	106,853	131,601
– Searches limited to insolvency	1,452,781	1,679,703
Office copies	19,630	20,421
Total	1,595,119	1,860,805

The Agricultural Credits Department

The Agricultural Credits Department is responsible for maintaining a register of short-term loans by banks under Part ll of the Agricultural Credits Act 1928. These charges are secured on farming stock and other agricultural assets of the farmer.

Type of application	2020/21	2019/20
New registrations	210	504
Cancellations and rectifications	420	867
Searches	1,243	2,112
Total	1,873	3,483

Appendix C

Sustainability historical data

Carbon data (tonnes)

Greenhouse gas emissions	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19	2017/18	2016/17	2015/16	2014/15
Non-financial indicators (tCO2e)
Total gross emissions for scopes 1 and 2	3,828	3,900	4,885	5,142	6,818	7,835	8,048
Electricity: green/renewable	646	525	1,824	1,688	1,710	1,195	2,306
Total net emissions for scopes 1 and 2 (having removed renewable elements)	3,182	3,375	3,061	3,454	5,108	6,640	6,839
Gross emissions scope 3 travel	30	645	460	528	510	557	608
Total gross reported emissions	3,859	4,545	5,345	7,361	7,328	8,392	8,656
Non-financial (mWh)
Electricity: purchased (grid, combined heat and power, and non-renewable)	2,901	8,757	11,994	12,478	12,808	12,956	12,902
Electricity: renewable	1,326	1,896	–	–	–	–	–
Gas	6,909	6,657	6,528	6,659	5,774	7,325	6,989
Other energy sources		–	–	–	–	–	–
Total energy	11,137	17,310	18,522	19,137	18,582	20,281	19,891
Financial indicators (£’000)
Expenditure on energy	1,779	2,102	1,943	1,788	1,485	1,641	1,684
Expenditure on accredited offsets (for example Government Carbon Offsetting Fund)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Expenditure on official business travel	24	1,222	1,305	1,193	1,231	1,222	1,142

Waste arising (tonnes)

Waste	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19	2017/18	2016/17	2015/16	2014/15
Non-financial indicators
Hazardous waste	0	–	–	6	3	1.6	–
Non-hazardous waste
Landfill waste	4	20	40	29	13	31.9	105
Reused/recycled waste	194	651	966	986	1,028	1,604	802
Energy from waste	101	123	163	26	5	6.6	–
Total waste arising	299	794	1,169	1,047	1,049	1,644	907
Financial indicators (£’000)
Hazardous waste	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Non-hazardous waste	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Landfill waste	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Reused/recycled waste	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Incinerated waste	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total waste costs	99	138	75	147	129	212	297

Water reduction (cubic metres)

Water	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19	2017/18	2016/17	2015/16	2014/15
Non-financial indicators (cubic metres)
Consumption
Supplied	18,492	41,829	41,548	41,130	34,967	36,395	38,153
Abstracted	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total consumption	18,492	41,829	41,548	41,130	34,967	36,395	38,153
Financial indicators (£’000)
Total supply costs	134	201	164	139	152	173	188

Appendix D

Indemnity Fund

In 2020/21, we paid £5,444,362 for 540 claims, compared with £5,295,059 for 845 claims in 2019/20. The largest payment this year was for a fraud claim where we had registered a fraudulent charge, this payment being for £1,346,946. Payment values this year were similar to those last year although the payment count was considerably down, most probably due to the pandemic.

The maximum recorded value of the claims paid was £8,909,591 but these were settled for £5,444.362, saving £3,465,220. During the year a further 165 claims valued at £1,380,016 were settled for no value. Of these, four were for fraud and were valued at £375,000. This year, 694 new claims were received totalling £11,808,155, including 22 fraud claims valued at £5,055,978.

We recovered £93,243 under our statutory rights of recourse, compared with £175,588 last year. Recourse figures can vary considerably from year to year, reflecting the unpredictable interplay of legal and factual elements which will determine the viability of achieving any recovery.

Nature of claim	Number of claims	Substantive loss (£)	Costs (£)	Percentage of total
Inclusion of incorrect extent of land in a registered title	87	253,986	274,092	9.7
Errors in/omissions from register entries	56	882,124	286,882	21.47
Sundry plans errors	2	0	1,003	0.02
Fraud and forgery	17	2,662,624	791,054	63.44
Official searches (plans)	7	22,799	38,578	1.13
Bankruptcy errors	0	0	0	0
Official searches (legal)	0	0	0	0
Official copies	1	0	259	0
Errors in searches of the index map	8	85,750	4,287	1.65
Errors in filed extracts	179	135	38,809	0.72
Lost documents/administrative errors	181	24,281	43,319	1.24
Land Charges errors	2	34,380	0	0.63
Total	540	3,966,079	1,478,283	100

	Costs (£)
Gross payment	£5,444,362
Less sums recovered under HM Land Registry’s statutory right of recourse.	£93,243
Net indemnity	£5,351,119