Corporate report

Performance report

Published 18 July 2025

Applies to England and Wales

An overview of HM Land Registry

Our purpose

We secure your property ownership, make buying of land easy and safe for everyone and provide access to property information.

Our vision

Digital services, expertise and accessible property information that unlock a better, faster, and less stressful property market.

How we serve

Change: We register changes in property ownership
Protect: We protect property ownership
Inform: We provide property information

Our values

• We have integrity
• We drive innovation
• We are professional
• We give assurance

Our primary role

For more than 160 years HM Land Registry has served as the critical institution protecting the right to property and enabling the market to operate. By keeping the definitive and guaranteed record of property ownership in England and Wales, we allow property to be transacted securely and with confidence.

The value of land and property in England and Wales is estimated at nearly £9 trillion, which is more than half the wealth of the nation. The Register of title contains more than 27 million land and property titles, covering more than 89% of the land area of England and Wales. Access to information about land and property enables individuals, businesses and the Government to plan for future housing needs, climate change and a thriving economy.

HM Land Registry is a non-ministerial department and since 1 June 2023 has been a partner body of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (known as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities prior to the 2024 General Election).

HM Land Registry in numbers

• 59.8m service requests
• 215,000 daily requests for HM Land Registry Information Services
• 59%: our Engagement Index Score on the 2024 People Survey
• More than 90%: digital applications to update the register, which is more than 4m applications
• 6,907 employees (more than 4,500 are caseworkers updating the Register of title)
• 6% are from ethnic minorities
• 11% have a disability
• 34% are part-time
• 61% are female

Over the past financial year, we have:

• completed over 23m official guaranteed information services requests to keep the property market moving (99.8% within three days)
• processed 4.43m register change applications, of which almost 360.900 were fast-tracked (95.6% were processed within 10 working days)
• migrated the data of 29 local authorities to our Local Land Charges Register
• recruited more than 185 new caseworkers and promoted 301 experienced caseworkers to more senior roles

Our role in the property market

Market interest

• Nearly £9 trillion worth of land and property held
• 215,000 daily requests to view the register, plans, associated documents, MapSearch and Search for land and property information

We hold one of the largest transactional geospatial property databases in Europe, including all secured loans and other property rights in England and Wales. Since 1990, our digital register has been fully open to the public.

We provide some of the most useful and valuable property information to support a truly data-driven economy and inform government policies to support housebuilding and growth. Our Land Charges service can reveal whether an unregistered property has restrictions on its use. The service protects certain interests in unregistered land and we also maintain the bankruptcy index for England and Wales. Our Agricultural Credits Register provides security for lending over farm assets, such as livestock or equipment, other than the land itself.

Property transaction

• 92,000 daily official copies, official searches and official local land charge searches

Our guaranteed information and transaction services provide essential information and protection to purchasers, lenders and their professional representatives, without which the property market would not function.

After purchase and beyond

• 669 fraudulent registrations prevented since 2009
• 19,000 daily requests to update the register or create a new title

We receive around 19,000 requests per day to update the register or create a new title. This can reflect new ownership, mortgages and other rights. Registering new ownership happens at the very end of a property transaction – after stamp duty land tax has been paid and the property has changed hands. Owners can use our Property Alert service to help protect their property from fraud.

Service requests

Information services – 27.8 million

• Search for land and property information* – 19.9 million
• Views of the register – 6.8 million
• MapSearch – 1.1 million

Guaranteed queries – 23.2 million

• Official copies – 20 million
• Official searches – 2.5 million
• Searches of the index map – 0.7 million

Register change services – 4.8 million

• Register updates – 4.4 million
• Transfers of part – 0.2 million
• New leases – 0.2 million
• First registrations – 0.1 million

*Free service

Revenue

Register change services – £260.8 million

• Register updates – £152.1 million
• Transfers of part – £54.9 million
• New leases – £34.8 million
• First registrations – £19 million

Guaranteed queries – £94 million

• Official copies – £81.9 million
• Searches of the index map – £1.5 million
• Official searches – £10.6 million

Information services – £27.6 million

• Views of the register – £27.6 million

Other services income – £16.9 million

• Land charges and Agricultural credits – £11.4 million
• Commercial services – £3.9 million
• Local Land Charges – £1.6 million

Total revenue received (including other services income) – £399.2 million

Foreword by Neil Sachdev, Chair

Neil Sachdev, Chair

At HM Land Registry we welcome a challenge. Whether it’s responding to the fluctuations of the property market, creating a new digital register or recruiting and training a whole new generation of caseworkers, we thrive on meeting and exceeding the expectations placed upon us. So we naturally responded positively and enthusiastically to the Government’s ambitions of delivering 1.5 million homes and speeding up property transactions. Improving the home buying and selling process by getting things right first time is going to be a team effort by ourselves and the conveyancing community. We’re excited to be part of it.

Our minister at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Matthew Pennycook MP, has recognised the vital role we play in the property market and rightly expects that we make an even bigger contribution as the Government implements its Plan for Change. We already provide the services that make the property market function – we must now enhance them so the market becomes more modern and efficient. We have already created a digital Local Land Charges Register from scratch – we must now ensure every local authority in England and Wales has joined by 2028. We already supply the data that informs transactions and fuels innovation – we must now unlock its full potential to help developers, homebuyers, property professionals and central and local government alike.

As we look back over 2024-25, we can see progress was made in all these areas and more. The difference now is that we have a clearer mandate and greater resources than ever to push forward.

Our plans to digitise are moving at pace. We’ll demonstrate how artificial intelligence can make land registration more efficient and, through the local authority data pilots commissioned by MHCLG earlier this year, we’ll show how digitisation can improve the homebuying process from start to finish. We’ll make further progress on digital signatures. We’ll take steps towards making our data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable so there are no barriers to businesses, academics and others using it for the public good. We’ll prototype development of our future geospatial-led Land Register – showing how our data can be made more transparent, unlocking immediate value in our test area in Bristol, and helping us improve our understanding of the data transformation of the next decade.

We’ll also work with MHCLG to increase transparency over development land by collecting and publishing details of contractual control agreements. And we’ll support the Government as it seeks to make commonhold a more attractive option for homeowners and buyers, using our data to inform policy design, delivery and evaluation.

All this and more will be set out in our Strategy 25+ and Business Plan 2025-26, under four overarching strategic objectives relating to our systems and services, our support for the property market and the expertise and performance of our workforce. These will challenge, motivate and empower us and we look forward to reporting on the achievements they inspire.

Our customers sometimes ask why we’re so actively involved in new initiatives when our speed of service for registration applications – our bread-and-butter work, in other words – has been too slow. The fact is, making a success of our day-to-day casework and forging ahead with new ideas is not an either/or. We must process applications faster while modernising our systems, completing the Local Land Charges Register and supporting the work of the Digital Property Market Steering Group. The Government expects it and ultimately it will be to everyone’s benefit.

The good news for conveyancers and their clients today is that our speed of service has improved substantially, with 95% of applications now processed within 12 months of submission, a target we met ahead of schedule. Alongside that, by the end of the year 52% of applications to change the register were processed within a month. A big thank you to our professional and diligent colleagues. We are all very grateful to them for these improvements and their commitment to making our services very customer focused. We will continue to reduce our customers’ wait times, while making our services easier to use and reforming our charging model to make it as fair and transparent as possible.

This year, the Land Registry Board and I were also pleased to commission HM Land Registry’s Customer Care Review. This resulted in a number of recommendations to improve the culture, services and systems that underpin our customer engagement. We welcomed the recommendations in a response that set out improvement plans, with much already being taken forward. We can truthfully say we’ve never been as focused on our customers as we are today.

The progress we’ve made in all these respects has been thanks to our people. We’ve recruited heavily to ensure we have the numbers we need to meet the demands on us, as well as replace the high number of retirees to whom we say a fond farewell each year. However, numbers mean little without expertise, dedication and ingenuity, all of which have been amply demonstrated over the past 12 months by our new colleagues and the experienced staff who welcomed them. We now have the capacity and continue to build the skills we need to satisfy our customers’ needs and meet the Government’s expectations, as we’ll show over the coming years.

Foreword by Simon Hayes, Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar

Simon Hayes, Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar

We know how important it is that everyone can rely on HM Land Registry to keep their property ownership secure and to help people buy homes, relocate their businesses and develop land.

This is of huge economic importance to the country. We support and enable more than £1 billion of property market activities every day. But it is also, for each of our 100,000 plus customers a day, a pivotal factor in their personal or business lives. So, nothing is more important to us than understanding their needs and doing our best to meet them.

This year our focus has been all about how we can better serve the people of England and Wales now and in the future. We have continued to provide all those services that people need to complete their purchases. The vast majority (89.8%) of these are delivered instantly, with a total of 99.8% returned within three days. This has not wavered despite the ups and downs of market volumes, which are a perennial challenge for everyone in the sector.

The registration of new ownerships has improved significantly. Previously, some applications, particularly of certain types, were taking too long to process. We set a goal that, by March 2025, we would be processing 95% of applications within 12 months of their submission, down from almost 18 months.

This was a challenging target, given the number of cases which we had of those more complex types, and the relative inexperience of a workforce where 30% of caseworkers have joined in the last four years. As those who work in the industry appreciate, even with advances in technology and improvements in systems and data, many types of cases simply cannot be processed accurately and securely without the input and oversight of expert, highly trained caseworkers who can exercise their judgement, based on their experience.

It needed a huge and focused effort from every one of our 6,900 people to support our customers, improve our efficiency and develop our teams so we could continue to increase our capability. We created the capacity to process significantly more registrations than we were receiving month on month. And we did that while also improving the quality of our work, with fewer errors being made in new registrations. I was absolutely delighted when we reached the target ahead of schedule.

We will of course not stop there. All registrations should be processed at the speed our customers need and we are not there yet. We will continue to prioritise the age of the oldest cases until the service is fast and consistent.

There has also rightly been a lot of focus on how we can work with those across government and the property sector on improving the way the market works. A more efficient approach with more accessible information will support the delivery of 1.5m homes, infrastructure development and growth overall.

The Government has set out an ambitious agenda for planning, housing and land transparency. We have compiled an ambitious plan to meet those objectives that will reap benefits for customers using our services and information for many years to come. It is a generational effort in upgrading our information, systems, processes and products that will enable us to play our role in enabling an artificial intelligence and data-driven market. And we are very pleased to have done so in collaboration with our partners in the Digital Property Market Steering Group, as this is the only way to deliver the sustainable change that is needed.

As well as all the work we have done to build technical knowledge and expertise, we have also invested greatly in our staff in other ways. We have worked hard to bring to them the voice and experience of the customer, so they can empathise and support them better. We shared videos, podcasts, news stories and polls to widen and deepen our understanding and connection to the home and business owners we serve.

We have also offered practical help to our customers. We have updated and improved our guidance and provided free training and data insights to thousands of lawyers who apply for registration. We hope that that will contribute to a reduction in the number of requests for further information which we are required to send, which is still very high at 19%.

We also answered queries more quickly, with calls to our support centre being answered over 50% faster. More than 80% of customer requests are now resolved within one call, and huge improvements have also been made in terms of resolving written inquiries and complaints more effectively and more quickly. We have simplified the language in our communications. All of this has reduced the friction and effort in our processes.

Our digital transformation also accelerated and we’ve continued to automate more of our simpler casework. New automated capability brought in during the year handled more than 30,000 cases – beyond expectations and speeding up processes for both customers and caseworkers. We’ve made a number of enhancements to our customer-facing services, such as providing more accurate estimated completion dates and improving correspondence capability, which have contributed to a reduction of over 30% in progress-chasing calls. We know that strengthening pre-submission validation of the information our customers provide to us is a huge opportunity to further improve the experience for all, and we’ve built the technology to enable this and begun testing with early adopters.

Our multi-award-winning Local Land Charges programme has continued to go from strength to strength in digitising local authority records and thereby speeding up the property search process, enjoying a record year of migrations and passing the 100 local authority milestone along the way. And behind the scenes, we’ve rolled out a new system to make internal casework referrals much more efficient, developed new artificial intelligence tools to help caseworkers navigate our legally-complex guidance, and begun investing in improving the health of our technology estate. We were also pleased that one of our existing systems, which supports caseworkers in comparing across different documents, won the Public Sector category at the National AI Awards 2024.

All these achievements were thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of our people. We need their ideas and inspiration as much as their expertise and hard work. As a small example of the culture we want to develop, we have established shadow executive committees consisting of people from around the organisation, that review all the same papers as the executive team. The chair then joins the full executive meetings. As a result of this and other initiatives, our people’s engagement with the organisation has grown in recent months. That is essential as we rise to the challenge of improving our performance.

As we set our new targets for our services over the coming year, we aim to be an ever more efficient and more effective organisation that better meets our customers’ needs and supports and drives the Government’s priorities. I’m confident that the determination, energy and imagination shown across HM Land Registry over the past year will make that a reality.

Building the services our customers need

Delivering on our commitments

HM Land Registry has made significant progress in addressing our customers’ key concerns. Our commitment to improving the speed of registration, by focusing on the oldest cases, has yielded tangible results. At the end of the 2024-25 financial year, we had met (and surpassed) our target to be processing 95% of all applications within 12 months of submission.

However, we are not complacent. While simpler applications, such as most residential ones, are now processed sooner (on average between 2 and 6 months), we acknowledge that customers submitting complex applications, particularly in the commercial property sector, continue to face challenges. We remain focused on enhancing our service until it fully meets all customer expectations.

Any customers concerned about potential delays can use our free expedite service, which consistently processes well over 95% of all expedited applications within 10 working days.

Stronger foundations

We have set ourselves ambitious targets, which can only be met by investing in our people and by digitalising more of our processes.

In recent years we’ve hired thousands of caseworkers and quickly built their skills through the Land Registration Academy. As new staff finish their training and gain further experience, we’ve seeing faster progress on more applications. We’ve also ensured the organisation is structured so we can respond quickly to fluctuations in market demand.

Alongside this, we’re investing in digital solutions – this financial year we fully automated the process for two types of application to change the details on an existing title. This allows our highly trained caseworkers to focus on more complex work and improve efficiency and accuracy across the board.

Application Management Service

Our Application Management Service (AMS) team demonstrates our commitment to handling complex cases with expert attention. It focuses on complex commercial and infrastructure applications, AMS providing personalised support for challenging cases.

This specialised approach has proved valuable in resolving complex situations, involving large- scale land transfers, deed variations, easements, covenants, strata and General Vesting Declarations. By collaborating closely with lawyers and maintaining proactive communication, our team delivers a service that regularly exceeds customer expectations.

Due to the nature of the applications processed within the service being complex commercial or infrastructure registrations, it would be expected that they are lodged by a legal customer.

Case study – Mishcon de Reya and Home Holdings

One example of the team’s work this year was in helping Mishcon de Reya and their client, Home Holdings Limited, with a large-scale project.

Mischon de Reya highlighted the particular issues delaying applications in this project, and the matter was referred to the AMS. There were around 3,000 applications in process, but at varying stages and handled by different offices. The team consolidated and focused attention on a large number of these, bringing in trainee caseworkers to support our efforts and build their skills. Some applications had been lodged out of sequence, by several different customers, and ended up conflicting with one another. Many had unresolved requisitions. Knowing they all related to the Home Holdings case, the team were able to untangle the myriad issues.

Throughout, the team worked directly with Mishcon de Reya and the various lodging solicitors to update on the current status of the pending applications and investigate which outstanding requisition points were holding up applications. The majority of applications were processed within a couple of months and the team continued to chase down and progress those held up by other applications and requisitions.

Reducing requests for further information

A key focus for us has been reducing the volume of requisitions (letters asking customers for more information before an application can be registered) we send. Last year, out of more than 4.4m applications received, we had to respond to more than 815,000 (19%) with requests for further information. This significantly impacts processing times, with requisitions adding approximately 15 working days to complete a registration.

We have also worked closely with our customers to reduce additional delays caused by “avoidable” errors in applications. Our economists estimate that the requisitions from these errors cost the conveyancing industry £19m annually. The most common requisitions relate to name variations, missing information, issues with plans and descriptions, and identity verification − accounting for more than 320,000 individual requisition points in the past year.

Our multifaceted approach to requisition reduction includes:

1. Enhancing caseworker capability: We have refined our training and internal guidance to help caseworkers apply their judgement effectively, reducing the number of unnecessary requisitions that we send, while maintaining essential due diligence.

2. System and policy development: With over 90% of registration applications now lodged digitally, we are using enhanced data validation on our portal and Business Gateway channels, replacing manual post-submission checks with automated pre-submission checks, comparing the information in the application against that in the register to highlight any discrepancies.

3. Customer support materials: We have developed comprehensive resources to assist customers in submitting complete and correct applications. These include our training hub materials, ‘Essentials’ package for new conveyancers, and popular live online workshops on avoiding requisitions. We have also created a suite of 20 videos to support members of the public who want to make their own simple applications.

Note: some applications have more than one point requiring attention.

Customer culture

A strategic priority this year has been embedding a focus on customers throughout our organisation. We helped staff feel more connected to those we serve by bringing customer perspectives into every internal communication channel through testimonials, blogs, videos, and customer quotes and feedback. A month of concentrated customer-specific content was channelled through our internal communications. Following this event, staff felt they knew our customers better and the amount of people who would “know where to go for more information about our customers” increased.

The desire to do the right thing for our customers − whether the lodging conveyancer or the person at the end of a transaction − was a resounding message from our staff engagement sessions. There was clear recognition from our people that understanding the intentions behind applications and seeing “the person behind the case” drives better service delivery.

Customer Care Review

In support of our commitment to improving customer- centricity, the Land Registry Board (LRB) commissioned the Customer Care Review Committee (CCRC) to conduct an independent review on our customer experience.

Two external non-executives joined the committee to broaden the perspective of the review with additional insight and expertise. The review took place over ten months and considered HM Land Registry governance, policies and procedures relating to customer handling (including complaints). The CCRC also commissioned external legal advisers to review a small number of historical complaints cases and provide advice to the committee.

The committee also commissioned an external audit of our complaints data. We welcomed the complaints review and audit and recognise that complaints data provides valuable information to enable organisational growth and improvement of customer services.

The review concluded with a final report, approved by LRB in March, that set out a number of recommendations to improve the culture, services and systems that underpin our customer engagement. We accepted the recommendations in a response that set out improvement plans and will be taken forward by the organisation and monitored by the Customer and Change Committee. The review’s report and our response will be published on GOV.UK. The Board’s commitment to improving customer service is reflected in the soon to be published Strategy 2025+ and the strategic outcomes of the 2025-26 Business Plan.

Looking ahead

We remain committed to continuing to improve our services, with plans to automate more of our simpler work, reduce requisitions through enhanced digital checks, simplify our fee structure, and support a more streamlined, digital homebuying process. Through these initiatives, which are set out in more detail in our upcoming Strategy 25+ and Business Plan 2025- 26, HM Land Registry is progressing toward becoming the efficient, customer-focused organisation our stakeholders expect.

Digital services

Enhancing customer experience through digital innovation

The past year has marked another significant period of digital transformation at HM Land Registry, with substantial improvements to our customer-facing digital services. We have strategically focused on enhancing our digital capabilities to reduce requisitions, improve processing times and create a more efficient experience for our customers.

Enhanced digital checks: preventing errors at source

Digital adoption and integration

Nine in 10 applications are submitted digitally – over 3.9 million this financial year. Our portal services have seen approximately 8,000 daily users make 2.5m applications, of which 1.5m applications were submitted through the Digital Registration Service (DRS).

A cornerstone of our development has been the implementation of enhanced digital checks across our submission channels. From autumn 2025, these checks will prevent applications containing simple administrative errors from being submitted through the DRS on the portal and via Business Gateway-enabled software.

This preventative approach targets common issues such as name discrepancies and incorrect title numbers, prompting users to resolve these errors before submission rather than through time-consuming requisitions later.

This enhancement will help customers get applications right first time, reducing follow-up requests for information.

By 2028, these enhancements are projected to save our customers approximately 300,000 hours annually − equivalent to 150 full-time employees − by eliminating unnecessary administrative processes and correspondence.

Responding to customer feedback

Customer insights have been instrumental in shaping our service improvements. Through direct engagement with firms such as Freeths and Gowling, we have gained valuable understanding of practical challenges faced by users, particularly around complex application types and terminology differences between legal professionals and administrative staff who typically lodge applications.

In response to specific feedback, we have:

• enhanced the View Applications feature, improving the accuracy of Estimated Completion Dates and refining filters for requisitions and cancellation warnings

• implemented functionality allowing portal users to view requisition responses and additional documentation submitted by colleagues, supporting collaborative workflows

• simplified the process for adding additional parties to applications, such as trustees and executors, reducing name discrepancy requisitions and improving processing speed

Working with customers and the market, we will develop a plan for future developments, while prioritising integrations through application programming interfaces (APIs). This will enable more data-driven decision making and personalised interactions, while making it simpler for customers to submit and pay for information requests online and receive digital copies of registers, title plans and official documents.

Our digital transformation over the past year represents a significant step toward our goal of providing faster, more efficient land registration services. By implementing enhanced digital checks, responding to customer feedback and fostering strategic partnerships, we are creating a more streamlined experience that benefits both our customers and our internal operations.

• 9 in 10 applications are submitted digitally – over 3.9 million this financial year.

• Our portal services have seen approximately 8,000 daily users make 2.5m applications, of which 1.5m applications were submitted through DRS.

• By 2028, enhancements are projected to save our customers approximately 300,000 hours annually.

In document comparison

At the 2024 AI Awards, HM Land Registry was recognised for its pioneering use of artificial intelligence in document comparison. Developed in partnership with Kainos, the solution automates the complex task of comparing application documents – significantly improving accuracy, reducing processing time and freeing up caseworkers for higher-value work.

The AI-powered tool, now in production, uses optical character recognition and machine learning to detect and highlight discrepancies in documents, a task previously done manually.

Local Land Charges

The Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme is transforming the LLC services previously delivered by 331 local authorities across England and Wales into a single national, digital register. Traditionally, individual local authorities held LLC information in varied formats, standards and accessibility. The LLC Register ensures that data is available in one place in a standardised and consistent format, improving transparency and efficiency for our customers.

By March 2025, a total of 110 local authorities had successfully transferred more than 7.2m local land charges to our national digital register. Alongside this, more than 1.5m searches have been completed. The time taken to receive search results in migrated areas has reduced from days or weeks to instant availability online. We have recorded £3m total cumulative cost savings from customers conducting searches in migrated areas to date.

• 110 local authorities transferred 7.2 million local land charges to our national digital register.
• 1.5 million searches completed.
• Nearly £3 million total cumulative cost savings from customers conducting searches in migrated areas.

By providing earlier access to vital information about restrictions on property, we are helping to reduce the number of property-buying transaction failures, saving buyers between £700 and £2,700 each time. Having this information earlier in the transaction process helps to speed up planning decisions and also supports wider infrastructure and investment decisions.

The next step for the programme is to create more opportunities to reuse the digitised LLC dataset, encouraging economic growth. This work supports wider Government digital ambitions and will help drive innovation within the property market.

Migrating the data to the national register is only the start of a local authority’s journey. With the support of our Service Performance and Integration team, we are improving data quality standards and the speed of charge registrations. Through continuous monitoring, we use our expertise to identify and fix customer issues as they arise and help embed good practice into processes.

We have introduced a categorisation system for local authorities that have migrated their data to our register. The authorities classified as ‘gold standard’ have achieved and maintained predefined performance levels which support our customer service standards. We are committed to supporting all local authorities to achieve ‘gold standard’ and we are working together to improve data quality, completeness and timeliness of entries to ensure our customers receive the best possible service.

We are building on our expertise and have implemented several improvements to the LLC service based on best practice and feedback from customers: for example, we now include an image of the mapped extent for each charge, along with the written details, to make the results more easily accessible. We have also upgraded the ‘maintain local land charges’ service to allow tracking of all LLC registration activity and enhanced the ‘search by title number’ service to allow for multiple title number extents in a single search. We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders to gather feedback and make improvements to the LLC service.

People

Training customer-focused apprentices

In 2024, we recruited 25 customer services and business administration apprentices to work in our Customer Resolution Team, Customer Support Centre and the Register Update Service. These apprenticeship programmes offer a pathway to recognised qualifications and help equip us to meet future challenges.

Apprentice Esther Maddison said: “This apprenticeship just made sense. Loads of on-the-job training opportunities, a Level 2 qualification in customer service, and a full-time job waiting at the end.”

The use of apprenticeships also offers us an alternative way of ensuring we are helping to create a talented pool of well-rounded individuals who can develop their career in HM Land Registry. Some previous apprentices have already progressed to senior positions, bringing fresh perspectives that benefit the organisation.

Celebrating our successes

This year we have collectively celebrated our achievements through a range of news stories and blogs and also talked about our improving performance. We launched a video series where senior leaders talked about our organisational achievements and their personal highlights and successes. Iain Banfield, Chief Financial Officer, shared the success of the Local Land Charges Programme, which met the major milestone of completing 1,000,000 searches against our national register as well as winning the prestigious Cross Government Impact with Analysis award.

Raising leadership visibility

Land Registry Board meetings took place across the country to provide an opportunity for members to meet HM Land Registry colleagues and have a greater understanding about day-to-day activity. One of the meetings in Durham included a visit to our various customer-facing teams to see how we support customers.

Ann Henshaw, Non-executive Board Member, said: “My overwhelming impression of the office is that it has a great culture with staff who really care about our customers. It was good to see that the office has recently established a first contact resolution and complaint handling team to bring together those who can better support customers.”

Improving ways to connect and listen

Our senior leaders increased the opportunity for colleague engagement by attending office visits throughout the year. In addition to this event schedule, Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar Simon Hayes travelled to all 14 offices in the autumn to meet colleagues, reflect on our recent history, celebrate achievements and share our vision for the future. He said: “I have enjoyed every visit to our offices. It’s been incredibly refreshing to see people face to face and hear about the issues that matter. We have numerous challenges to overcome to get to where we want to be as an organisation. But at the same time, we don’t do enough to celebrate our many successes, and it is clear from speaking to so many colleagues that there’s a huge amount to be rightly proud of.”

Listening to views and helping shape the future

Throughout the year our leaders took part in online listening groups where colleagues shared their ideas, frustrations and suggestions of how to improve things. More than 300 people attended 24 of the events. Topics ranged from our use of data to how we can improve our customer interactions. The insights gathered helped inform our leaders about our projects and policies but also helped them understand the impact of projects on our people. One example is that we refined our People Change Framework as a result of direct feedback.

One participant said: “I really enjoyed the frankness of the session with some people sharing difficult stories. It was all relevant and I think these sessions should be continued.”

Shadow committees

Our newly established shadow committees aim to increase transparency of HM Land Registry’s strategic decision- making, bring greater diversity of thought from across our organisation. Shadow committee members provide their views and perspectives on the same papers presented to senior executive committees, allowing colleagues to provide constructive challenge through their contributions.

Shadow committee member Dave Ruck said the experience had deepened his understanding of the decision-making processes.

“It has given me a direct insight into what issues the Board faces, at a strategic level, and how it comes to the conclusions and decisions it does,” he said. “Weighing up all of the issues and coming to a consensus on which way to proceed. Staff, me included, often wonder why the Board has come to a particular decision. This post has given me the opportunity to see the factors affecting an issue and to see why a decision has been made.”

Shadow committee member George Thomas said participation had broadened his understanding of our systems and helped him think differently about how we approach and communicate with customers. “One of the key insights has been understanding the breadth and complexity of factors directors must consider,” he said. “Seeing how major considerations are balanced has been eye-opening. The Executive Team engages in robust debate before reaching a decision and it’s reassuring to see that diverse viewpoints are considered.”

Both said they had appreciated the opportunity to work with people they wouldn’t normally meet in their day-to- day roles, allowing them to see HM Land Registry’s work from a wider perspective.

Training and progression

More than 1,000 colleagues have taken part in the Land Registration Academy training programmes to build and enhance their skills in land registration. They included new starters to the organisation, learners having advanced development in their current grades and learners on internal promotion onto more complex registrations. When learners complete the activities, they receive a technical authority in key areas of land registration. The academy training programme has recently been recognised as meeting CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) standards and has therefore been recognised as a CILEX- endorsed centre.

Award success for our Land Registration Academy

The Land Registration Academy Customer Services Training Team has achieved a significant milestone by winning the Gold Award for Learning and Development Team of the Year at the UK National Contact Centre Awards.

Head of Technical Training and Operational Capability, Jeff Saunders, expressed immense pride and gratitude, stating: “To win a UK wide award and be recognised at this level is truly awesome. Whilst this is a team award, it’s also a recognition for the Land Registration Academy, Customer Services and HM Land Registry as a whole.”

Delivery Lead for the Customer Support Centre, Paula Sturdy, added: “As a Civil Service department we don’t have the same access to resources as the private sector, so to win a national award up against ‘big guns’ in the industry is amazing and down to the passion and can-do approach of our teams. So proud of this very well- deserved achievement.”

People awards

We celebrated success internally at an awards event in Leicester to showcase the hard work of HM Land Registry colleagues over the past year.

Thirty-four awards were presented, starting with People Awards for colleagues from various offices and directorates. This award celebrates those people who go the extra mile to make our working life better, the people you would really miss if they were not part of the team.

Other awards included one for volunteering which went to Paul Atkin of Plymouth Office for his work volunteering for a range of organisations including the Royal British Legion and his local soup kitchen, and a charity award for Danielle Lord of Fylde Office for her tireless efforts supporting her local food bank.

Property fraud

Continuing to guard against property fraud

In the last financial year, our Counter Fraud Group prevented more than £59m worth of fraudulent property applications.

They achieved this through a combination of continually reviewing and updating HM Land Registry’s methods for detecting fraud, working in close partnership with other agencies across government and the property sector, and encouraging the public to be on their guard at all times. One key thing that people can do is make sure their property is registered and sign up for our free Property Alert service.

We have continued to promote Property Alert, with the number of accounts rising by more than 100,000 in 2024-25 to a total of more than 798,000. A number of high-profile media mentions of property fraud over the year, including in the Daily Mail and the BBC’s Rip Off Britain and You and Yours programmes, have also helped raise awareness of the topic.

Lynne Feddon, Head of Counter Fraud, said: “It’s encouraging that the number of Property Alert accounts has risen so much but fraudsters will always be looking for a new angle, so we mustn’t drop our guard.”

Although property fraudsters are sometimes successful, we can often step in and stop them. Last year we received an application to transfer ownership of a bungalow with a value of £360,000 – significantly below the average for the area. The owners had signed up for Property Alert, which meant they were notified of this application. They then contacted us and, on visiting the property, discovered the locks had been changed and a For Sale sign put up. At the owner’s request, we cancelled the application to transfer ownership.

We have been working with a wide range of charities and other organisations, encouraging them to signpost Property Alert on their platforms. We are also working with the National Crime Agency, City of London Police and the Public Sector Fraud Authority on ways to amplify our counter fraud messages.

Our data and transforming the property market

Value of HM Land Registry data

Our registers and data are a piece of critical national infrastructure, providing transparency, accuracy and reliability in property transactions. They underpin a nearly £9 trillion property market, support £1.7 trillion lending and enable the UK House Price Index (HPI) – a National Statistic used for fiscal forecasting. Our investments in data enable over 3000 data users to download datasets on a monthly basis, which combined with our bespoke services, generates over £370m ^{[footnote 1]} per year in economic benefit.

Our data underpins a stable property market, encouraging investment and supporting economic growth across the UK.

Since the launch of our own data publication platform, Use land and property data, in 2020, there have been more than 1.5 million downloads of the data, which includes Price Paid Data, Registered Leases and the UK House Price Index reports.

Some of the ways in which our data is used include:

• asset/estate management
• analysis of trends and patterns in the property and housing market
• utility and infrastructure projects
• developing housing and social policy
• risk analysis on potential development sites

Property market worth nearly £9 trillion

Lending worth £1.7 trillion

1.5 million data downloads

Generating an economic benefit of £370 million per year

Geovation Accelerator Programme

HM Land Registry has co-funded the Geovation Accelerator Programme (GAP) with Ordnance Survey since 2017. The GAP’s aim is to support early-stage PropTech and GeoTech entrepreneurs in bringing land or property data-driven solutions to market. Since our involvement began, we have supported 48 PropTech start-ups who have collectively raised more than £92m in investment and gone on to provide innovative data-driven solutions to streamline the property market.

In February 2025 the Financial Times ranked the GAP in their top 150 start-up hubs in Europe.

Unlocking development potential through data

PropTech start-up Viability illustrates the transformative power of HM Land Registry data in addressing the UK’s housing challenges. Since joining the GAP in October 2023, the company has revolutionised how property developers assess land for potential development.

Viability’s platform harnesses HM Land Registry’s National Polygon Service and Price Paid Data, combining it with expert analysis methodologies to transform

the site assessment process. By integrating this data, developers can now appraise multiple sites in minutes rather than months, significantly accelerating the housing development pipeline.

“Taking part in the Geovation Accelerator Programme was instrumental in accelerating our growth,” says Henry Mayell, Viability’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.

“It connected us with key industry players, offered valuable mentorship, and fast-tracked our development by giving us the tools to refine our platform.”

The impact has been substantial. With more than 100 active users conducting more than 1,000 viability assessments, the platform has empowered property developers, land agents, planners and housing associations to make better-informed decisions, ultimately helping to address the UK’s housing crisis while promoting more sustainable building practices.

Simplifying lease extensions

Zero Down Lease, which joined the programme in spring 2022, exemplifies how our data can improve services for homeowners struggling with leasehold issues.

Of the 5.4m leasehold properties in England and Wales, 1.2m will need to get their lease extended in the next 10 years. These are the customers that Zero Down Lease wants to help.

Using our registered leases dataset, Zero Down Lease identifies properties requiring lease extensions and helps owners navigate this complex process, taking away the fear and confusion.

“Geovation was really useful in helping us refine our problem and understand who we’re serving and how,” says Josef Wasinski, Chief Executive Officer and founder. “The coaching and mentoring we received was invaluable, as was being able to bounce ideas off experts as well as other start-ups.”

The company has gone on to help extend leases on more than £60m worth of properties and has received outstanding customer reviews.

Their success demonstrates how making our data accessible to innovative startups directly benefits citizens while supporting economic growth through the UK’s thriving PropTech sector.

Helping to transform the market

We are committed to working with others to achieve crucial transformation in the land and property market and dramatically improve the experience of all those involved. This year we continued our instrumental participation as members of the Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG), which brings together property and technology experts from across the industry.

DPMSG is an unprecedented collaboration between government and industry, committed to delivering meaningful change through innovation and a focus on emerging digital technologies. It’s building on existing progress across the land and property buying and selling system to get a better result for the customer: simpler, faster, more certain and less stressful, directly supporting the wider government housing and planning reform aims.

Greater collaboration

Collaboration has significantly increased across government, with both the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology joining the steering group, and the development of close working relationships with the Department for Business and Trade. MHCLG has also now taken on responsibility for chairing the group, showing the Government’s commitment to the agenda.

DPMSG has also widened collaboration across industry, with established working groups spanning the property sector, including but not limited to legal professionals, valuers, surveyors, property agents, mortgage intermediaries, lenders and information suppliers.

Additionally, they’ve developed the first iteration of the Digital Property Information protocol. This protocol aims to:

1. Clearly define roles and responsibilities across sectors.
2. Establish pathways for adopting digital processes.
3. Provide a framework for improving efficiency and transparency.
4. Address key pain points identified by industry practitioners.

The group also continues to work closely with influential bodies such as the Home Buying and Selling Council on mutual objectives to achieve positive transformation of the property system.

The road ahead

DPMSG has three priority areas for 2025/26, based on extensive stakeholder consultation.

1. Evolving the Digital Property Information Protocol to encourage adoption of digital processes and access to digitised data sources as they become available. This will in turn speed up the property buying and selling process and provide a more transparent and consumer-centric process.

2. Digital identity: the development of digital identity rules for the property sector, determining how the Government’s UK digital identity and attributes trust framework can be used to help the whole sector achieve a secure and reusable single identity journey. This will reduce duplication, increase efficiency and security, and create a better customer experience.

3. Digitisation and interoperability research: working with government to support research into open data and interoperability standards and explore improving property data through targeted local authority digitisation pilots.

Sustainability

We contribute to a number of sustainability forums across government departments, including the Government Property Agency (GPA) and MHCLG.

We work closely with our facilities management provider OCS to support effective building management with consideration for sustainability and compliance. We, identify opportunities for involvement in environmental and sustainability-related activities which form part of our plan for meeting the Greening Government Commitments (GGC).

Our buildings are owned by the GPA but we manage the business and operational activities. The GPA provides funding for the majority of lifecycle replacements and Net Zero projects.

We have continued our accreditation to the ISO14001 standard for Environmental Management Systems with re-certification confirmed for 2025. The standard, which is externally audited, is based on compliance and demonstrating continuous improvement.

Our Sustainability Panel provides governance for sustainability arrangements, including ensuring sustainability impact assessments are in place for projects.

In line with The Simpler Recycling Regulations (England) 2025 we have invested in new recycling bin arrays across our estate. This follows the installation of new bin arrays in our Swansea office in April 2024 in line with The Waste Separation Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2023 – see below.

All toilet roll and paper towel dispensers across our offices have been changed over to more sustainable options.

We benefit from a committed group of volunteer Sustainability Champions across our offices who work closely with our charity groups and have provided support and delivered on a wide range of local initiatives.

Good news stories in sustainability

All staff can engage in three days of voluntary work within the community. Events are risk assessed, protective equipment is provided and safe working practices are followed.

For example, we have a well-established relationship with Dartmoor Zoo in Plymouth, sending volunteer groups up to three times a year to assist with vegetation clearance and other site grounds works. The charity also holds a stall at our Seaton Court Christmas Fayre to raise funds for this worthy cause.

For the second year running, volunteers at our Croydon office took part in Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean. In windy but pleasant conditions, the team worked over their lunch break to smarten up the area around the office. Lots of bags were filled, with recyclables collected separately (of course!).

We continue to encourage our staff to embrace biodiverse activities to enhance the rich and natural environment and wildlife our sites enjoy. We promote a wide range of national sustainability themes, aiming to improve carbon literacy and awareness.

No Mow May

Areas of grassland across the estate were left uncut during May to encourage plant growth and allow wildlife and insect habitats to flourish.

Sustainability

	Achieved 2024-25	Target for 2025	On target?
Carbon	65% reduction	55% reduction	On target
Waste arising	72% reduction in waste generated	Reduce the amount of waste generated by at least 25%	On target
	100% recycled	Recycle or compost at least 70% of waste and landfill less than 10% of waste
Water consumption	22% reduction	Reduce the amount of waste generated by at least 8%	On target
Paper consumption	67% reduction	Reduce our paper use by 50% from 2017-18 baseline	On target

Waste is recycled or incinerated for energy conversion (46%) rather than going to landfill.

High water consumption figures due to major underground mains leak at Durham site in November 2024. Awaiting supplier confirmation on meter comparable for usual seasonal consumption.

Performance data calculated against 2017-18 baseline.

Area		Performance	Target – not to exceed
Energy: greenhouse gas emissions, all areas within scope	carbon emissions (tonnes)	2,068	3,215
	expenditure (£)	1,845,058.67
Waste	consumption (tonnes)	291	885
	expenditure (£)	110,894.87
Water	consumption (m)	32,073	37,679
	expenditure (£)	206,313.79

Carbon

We have reduced consumption of electricity against last year use by 1,288 MWh. This reflects reduced use of space within our properties. The most significant drop is from the migration of our data to Crown Hosting arrangements and the closure of our final data centre. HM Land Registry moved to renewable green tariff electricity from 01/04/24.

Gas consumption has fallen from last year’s figures by 2,999 MWh. This in part has been achieved by improvements to, or replacements of, some of our building heating systems.

Our overall carbon emissions have reduced since 2017-18 and are at 2,068 tonnes, a reduction against the baseline year of 65%. See Appendix C for historic trend data.

The new target set by the GGC for carbon from domestic flights to be reduced by 30% by end of March 2025 has been achieved. In the baseline year HM Land Registry had a total of 351 domestic fights with a carbon impact of 18.03 tonnes. In 2024-25 we recorded 23 domestic fights with a carbon impact of 3.77 tonnes, resulting in a carbon reduction against the baseline of 79%. We made two Continental short-haul flights.

Waste

The target set is to reduce the overall amount of waste generated by 15% from a 2017-18 baseline and strive to reduce it further, and recycle or compost by 70%, with a goal to send less than 5% of waste to landfill.

We are currently meeting the targets, with the amount of waste generated cut by 72% and 100% of all waste recycled or incinerated for energy conversion (53%) rather than going to landfill.

Paper equates to 41% of waste, with 161 tonnes being sent for recycling.

Our GGC targets require improved activity in the removal of consumer single use plastics from the government estate. We continue to identify and reduce sources of single use plastic (SUP) and work with our suppliers to switch essential products to a more sustainable option. Our newly appointed stationery suppliers have advised that they are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a refined reporting mechanism for all the government estate. We hope to benefit from this work to achieve our ambitions in SUP reductions.

Water

We have achieved a 22% reduction in water consumption against a target of 8% from a 2017-18 baseline. We remain on track to meet the target despite increased use of our buildings in 2024-25. *Note: A mains water supply leak affected our Durham site in November 2024. This has distorted our annual consumption figures. We await an adjustment calculation from our supplier.

Paper

Our GGC target to reduce our paper use by 50% from a 2017-18 baseline shows a current improvement of 67% on A4 equivalent. Our digital services programme and our move to on-request printing are continuing to have a significant impact. Further work is planned to review overall paper use across the estate. We continue to work on technical solutions and improved IT to reduced unnecessary printing.

Sustainable procurement

Our Procurement and Contract Management Policy pays proper regard to sustainability, including social value, tackling modern slavery, support for small and medium- size enterprises and environmental factors. We ensure sustainability is considered in our investment choices so we contribute directly to achieving GGC targets. We include social, economic and/or environmental requirements in our tender specifications and assess suppliers’ responses to these, and we are committed to working with our suppliers to measure performance against agreed measures to maximise value for money during the life of a contract.

Information and communications technology and digital

Our commitment to the Government’s Net Zero carbon requirements includes ensuring upgrades or replacement of any information and communications technology (ICT), and digital equipment, hosting or supporting mechanical and electrical infrastructure, must perform better than what is being replaced. We comply with all relevant environmental legislation and key Government objectives. We ensure 100% of all decommissioned ICT equipment is reused, recycled or disposed of environmentally and ethically.

Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Compliance Statement 2024/2025

This year we have enhanced our governance of all elements of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), with regular visibility at board level and increasing the scope and remit of our Sustainability Panel to include aspects of our ESG agenda. The panel now includes a wider range of internal leaders in policy, strategy, human resources, communications, technology and procurement to ensure we challenge our ambition and drive continuous improvement in partnership with cross-government leading organisations.

The panel currently provides oversight of climate-related risks and adaptations, and this will continue and form part of the new ESG Panel agenda next year. This includes ensuring our environmental management system demonstrates continuous improvement in line with the requirements of our ISO 14001 certification, which supports climate change mitigations and adaptation, oversight of environmental impact assessments for projects and GGC work to meet carbon emissions targets and Net Zero ambitions.

We report quarterly to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on our Greening Government Commitments, including GHG Scopes 1 and 2 and relevant elements of Scope 3. We continue to meet our GGC commitments, and we exceed the majority of the targets (see appendix C).

The GPA now owns, and has responsibility, for most of the properties we occupy and in the remainder we are a small tenant. As such the resilience of the estate and addressing climate-related scenarios sits with the GPA, which supports our own operational business continuity arrangements.

During 2023/24 the GPA completed a Climate Change Adaptation Risk Assessment and outline Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan. This work has followed the Office for Government Property Framework. A strategy document setting out the outcomes from this work has been completed and shared with HM Land Registry to inform our local Climate Change Risk assessments where we manage the operational elements of the building.

During 2025 the GPA is continuing to gather building level data to enhance information on climate adaptation risks and mitigations. These will be shared with us once completed and we will combine our local operational Climate Change risk assessments to agree prioritised action plans across our occupied estate.

We have completed an estate-wide climate change risk review, and a third of our operational climate change and adaptation risk assessments in line with the Defra methodology, following the Office for Government Framework in this year with the remainder due completion in Q1 of 2025/26 to help inform discussion with the GPA on prioritised action.

This year we have supported the GPA to deliver a number of Net Zero projects and agreed further projects for delivery in 2025/26.

We are now working with Defra, MHCLG and the GPA on all aspects of joint reporting on metrics, improvement and resilience plans for the buildings we occupy.

We remain agile and prepared to develop our response to the new GGC commitments 2025-2030 from 1 April.

How we have delivered against our Strategy and Business Plan

This is the final year of our Business Plan 2022 to 2025. In this section we will share details of the progress we made.

Our Business Plan objectives

In August 2022, we published our Business Plan 2022 to 2025. This set out our priority objectives, the plan for achieving them and the key performance indicators we would use to track performance.

Our Business Plan laid out our commitment to:

• deliver an improved speed of service for our customers;
• lay the foundations for our future role in a digital property market and maximise our impact on the future wider economy; and
• modernise our organisational culture and ways of working.

We measure performance using a range of indicators and datasets on GOV.UK, enabling us to understand the broader impact the organisation is having, with the aim of delivering improvements.

The following summary outlines our performance against the objectives in our Business Plan 2022 to 2025. The performance analysis section of this report on pages 38 to 42 provides further details of our activities, and an analysis against our key performance indicators and the principal risks we have faced.

Strategic Objective 1: Deliver an improved speed of service for our customers

This objective supported two key pillars of Strategy 2022+: delivering secure and efficient land registration and enabling the digital transfer of property ownership. By investing in digital transformation and enhancing the capacity and capability of our caseworkers, our registers continued to provide a reliable record of ownership, preventing disputes and fraud, and ensuring smooth, secure property transactions.

Our information services are our most critical statutory services – crucial for the seamless day-to-day operation of the property market. They provide crucial information, vital for initiating property transactions and must therefore be delivered promptly. They come with a state guarantee, ensuring protection for purchasers, lenders, and their professional representatives, thereby facilitating the smooth functioning of the property market.

These services functioned with exceptional efficiency. Last year, we received over 23 million guaranteed information services requests, including official copies, official searches and official searches of the index map. Of these requests, 89% were automated and available instantly. The remaining requests were completed manually by our expert caseworkers, with 97.7% completed within three days.

Requests that took longer required additional information from the customer, such as searches affecting entire shopping centres, where both freehold and leasehold titles needed to be revealed on a plan. In these exceptional instances, customers were kept informed throughout the process.

Applications to change existing registered titles – changes which are not urgent but legally required, occur after stamp duty land tax has been paid and the property has exchanged hands – take longer to complete. Last year, 55% of register change applications were processed within one month of receipt. This includes the 29% of all applications that were automated and completed within minutes. The more complex applications, such as those registering land or property for the first time, are those that take the longest owing to their complexity.

We protect the legal interests of applicants from the moment we receive their application. Over the past year, we have made meaningful progress in reducing processing times and improving the timeliness and quality of our services. The time taken to start working on 95% of each application type has improved considerably, decreasing from 17.5 months to 11.9 months during 2024 to 2025. This marks a significant step forward and reflects the impact of our sustained efforts to build capacity, invest in our people, and modernise our systems.

We have continued to invest significantly in developing the skills of new and existing caseworkers, resulting in a 3% increase in the number of applications updated in the register compared to the previous year, and a 7.5% increase since the beginning of the Business Plan in 2022. Additionally, we have expanded the use of automation and further improvements have been made to our digital infrastructure.

To avoid delays that could put a property sale, or any other kind of property transaction, at risk, we offer a free expedite (fast-track) service. If a delay in registration is causing problems, whether legal, financial or personal, our criteria for expedition are met. During 2024 to 2025 we processed over 1,400 expedited applications every day, consistently completing more than 95% within 10 working days.

Strategic Objective 2: Lay the foundations for our future role in a digital property market and maximise our impact on the wider economy

This objective supports three pillars of Strategy 2022+, providing near real-time property information and accessible digital register data, as well as leading research and accelerating change with property market partners, all of which support a more efficient and transparent property market.

Every local authority in England and Wales, apart from county councils, is required to hold a local land charges register that records obligations affecting properties within their administrative area. Under the Infrastructure Act 2015 ^{[footnote 2]}, responsibility for these registers transferred to HM Land Registry in a phased approach. Through our multi award-winning Local Land Charges Programme ^{[footnote 3]}, we have worked in partnership with local authorities to migrate them to a single, centralised digital register.

We had migrated 110 local authorities by the end of 2024 to 2025, with 29 delivered during this year alone, showing the accelerated pace of migration. This has created a unified register with over 7.2m charges and growing, streamlining access to vital information for users nationwide. In total, we have delivered around 280,000 official searches, saving an average of £10.27 per search for customers, who received their results instantly, an average of 12 days faster than the services we replaced, greatly enhancing land transparency.

To drive crucial digital transformation in the land and property market, in 2023 we co-founded the Digital Property Market Steering Group ^{[footnote 4]} (DPMSG), a coalition of government and industry partners working together to accelerate the adoption of digital technology, while ensuring it is transparent, secure and consumer friendly. In March 2025, the DPMSG confirmed its focus on three key priorities, including work with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to enable the property industry to adopt and share digital identity; and work with government to progress data standards and interoperability, and to improve property data through targeted digitisation pilots. A third priority is the evolution of a flagship Digital Property Information Protocol, an online protocol that describes a digital end to end property buying and selling process and explains the roles and responsibilities of each profession at every stage. The Protocol is intended to encourage adoption of digital processes and access to digitised data sources as they become available, providing a more transparent and consumer-centric process, and reducing timescales and transaction fall-throughs to improve the home moving and ownership experience for all.

Recognising the increasing demand for high-quality, geospatially enabled data, we have developed new digital tools, including an online system for requesting register changes. Additionally, we have provided access to our data and invested our resources into the joint HM Land Registry/Ordnance Survey Geovation Accelerator programme. This is designed to kickstart geospatial and property start-ups and encourage PropTech as a growth-driving sector ^{[footnote 5]}. Since 2017, more than 150 start-ups have been supported, with over 2,500 jobs created and £130 million in funding raised. Our longer-term ambition is to create a fully geospatial land register by transforming textual and spatial data into open, machine-readable formats. We are building the necessary infrastructure to enable seamless data sharing, starting with a pilot project in a 5km² redevelopment zone in Bristol, showcasing the value of integrated spatial data.

To support our plans to increase digitisation and transformation of data, and to simplify our fees structure for customers, we increased our fees ^{[footnote 6]} for Information Services, Land Charges searches, and registration of Agricultural Credits - the first increases we have made in over a decade. The move will allow us to continue to invest in improving services for our customers. In the coming year we are designing a new fees and charging model, built on the principles of simplicity, cost recovery, fairness and flexibility, making it easier for customers to work with us.

Strategic Objective 3: Modernise our organisational culture and ways of working

Our people are the foundation of all we have achieved and all we aspire to. Over the past year, we have made significant progress in modernising our organisational culture and ways of working to ensure HM Land Registry remains a great place to work.

We have continued to focus on activities that enhanced our services and built our team’s capabilities. During 2024 to 2025 over 1,000 caseworkers participated in grade development activity, 3,500 new and existing colleagues received training through the Land Registration Academy, and we trained more than 100 colleagues in customer services. Leadership development remained a priority, and we launched the HM Land Registry Leadership and Management Academy and Campus, supporting development and growth for our people at all levels and stages of their careers.

Our cultural transformation gained momentum through improved internal communications, stronger leadership visibility and a renewed focus across leadership networks, including the Senior Executive Team, Leadership Group and Strategic People Leaders Network. Governance was further strengthened through the appointment of new Non-Executive Board Members, bringing fresh insight and expertise to our leadership.

We have made significant progress in developing our IT infrastructure and improving technical health. Our initiatives this year included upgrading our internal systems, increasing automation for internal IT service requests and successfully transitioning over 99% of the organisation to Windows 11. Moving forward, we aim to continue optimising our systems, maximising automation opportunities and implementing remediation plans for legacy technologies.

Key performance indicators

Our Business Plan 2022 to 2025 and Strategy 2022+ are anchored by a Performance Framework, developed in alignment with the principles of the Public Value Framework. This performance framework continues the previous years’ foundation, incorporating the principles of a balanced scorecard approach to reflect the perspectives of our customers, internal business processes, financial management and our people.

Our key performance indicators (KPIs), approved by the Land Registry Board in 2023, focus on addressing several long-standing issues and putting ourselves in a better position to tackle our longer-term challenges, supported by a comprehensive range of performance data that is continuously reviewed. This enables our governance boards to make informed, outcome- focussed decisions and ensures that early signs of performance risks are proactively detected and addressed.

Customer perspective

Two of our three performance indicators were met and exceeded, and one was a near-miss.

How satisfied customers are with the overall service provided by HM Land Registry (near miss)

• Purpose: How well HM Land Registry delivers a service aligned to customers’ needs
• Target: 60% of customers rating our overall service as 8-10 on a scale of 1 to 10
• Headline: 59% achieved this year.
• A positive increase from 56% achieved in 2023 to 2024 

2020-21	70%
2021-22	63%
2022-23	60%
2023-24	56%
2024-25	59%

We measure customer satisfaction by conducting a quarterly survey of professional customers that have used our service in the last three months who rate the service they have received as 8-10. Performance has remained broadly stable over the last year, improving from 2023 to 2024 and returning to satisfaction levels achieved in 2021 to 2022. Almost all our services have seen an improvement in their rating over the past year. Information Services and Land Charges saw the highest levels of satisfaction at nearly 90%. We know that overall service is impacted by the speed of our service and the associated symptoms, which is why we are continuing to focus on improving the age of the oldest outstanding applications we hold.

Pre-completion Guaranteed Information Service requests returned to customer within three working days (achieved)

• Purpose: How efficiently land and property information is provided to customers to enable properties to change hands without delay
• Target: 99% of guaranteed information services delivered within 3 working days
• Headline: 99.8% achieved this year 
• Maintaining the high standard of 99.7% achieved in 2023 to 2024

2020-21	98.8%
2021-22	99.4%
2022-23	99.5%
2023-24	99.7%
2024-25	99.8%

We provided a fast and efficient customer experience for those essential pre-completion services that enabled properties to change hands without delay. During the last year, we received over 23 million guaranteed information services requests – official copies, official searches and official searches of the index map – a 10% increase compared to requests received in 2023 to 2024, with more than 89% automated and available instantly.

Post-completion expedited register change applications processed within ten working days (achieved)

• Purpose: How efficiently urgent requests to change the Land Register are processed by HM Land Registry so a customer property transaction is not put at risk
• Target: 95% of post-completion expedited register change applications processed within 10 working days in a rolling 12-month period
• Headline: 95.6% achieved this year
• A positive increase on the 94.3% achieved in 2023 to 2024

2021-22	96%
2022-23	95.7%
2023-24	94.3%
2024-25	95.6%

We have continued to deliver the essential services required to keep the property market moving. To avoid delays that could put a property sale, or any other kind of property transaction, at risk, we offer a free expedite (fast-track) service. If a delay in registration is causing problems, whether legal, financial or personal, our criteria for expedition are met. We received around 300% more expedites each month in 2024 to 2025 (30,000 per month on average) than we did in early 2020 to 2021 (7,500). We processed 360,900 expedited applications last year, consistently processing 95.6% within 10 working days. Where we were not able to process an application within 10 working days, we contacted customers to ensure we still met their needs, so a property transaction was never put at risk.

Internal perspective

One of our four performance indicators was met and exceeded, one was a near-miss and two missed.

Age of oldest outstanding post-completion applications in months (achieved)

• Purpose: How quickly the oldest applications to change the Register of title are processed by HM Land Registry (property is legally protected on receipt of application)
• Target: Reduce age of 95% of the oldest application type that are waiting to be processed 10.1 16.6 19.9 17.5 11.9
• Headline: 11.9 months achieved at the end of this year
• A positive decrease from 17.5 months in 2023 to 2024

2020-21	10.1 months
2021-22	16.6 months
2022-23	19.9 months
2023-24	17.5 months
2024-25	11.9 months

Each year, we receive over 4 million post-completion applications to change land and property ownership. The average time to complete applications to change the register in the last 12 months remained steady at 13 working days, excluding time waiting for a customer or other third-party response where further information is required. However, some applications can take much longer than this.

We have focussed efforts on continuously improving how quickly we process these applications, building on the improvements made during 2023 to 2024, to minimise delays and ensure quality outcomes for our customers. These types of applications include multi-titles submitted by developers, or major infrastructure projects. They also include registering property for the first time, transferring part of an existing title or lodging a new lease.

We have made real progress in reducing the age of these outstanding post-completion applications, with each type now less than 12 months old. We have achieved this by investing in developing the skills of our people, providing additional training to more than 2,500 caseworkers through our Land Registration Academy since its creation in April 2021. At the same time, we have expanded the use of automation and made further improvements to our digital infrastructure.

Number of outstanding post-completion applications (near miss)

• Purpose: How many overdue applications to change the register are held by HM Land Registry
• Target: Maintain control of the number of outstanding post-completion applications to 572,000
• Headline: 636,000 achieved at the end of this year
• An increase on 572,000 achieved at the end of 2023 to 2024

2020-21	624,000
2021-22	506,000
2022-23	514,000
2023-24	572,000
2024-25	636,000

We made the decision during the year to accept an increase in the number of younger and simpler applications, which we receive in very large volumes, to prioritise reducing the age and number of older, more complex applications. This approach aligns with what is most important to customers. Consequently, the number of outstanding applications increased to 636,000. These applications involve changes to existing titles and include a range of services that typically take place after a property has been sold, stamp duty land tax has been paid, and the property has exchanged hands. The legal interests of the applicant are protected from the moment we receive the application.

Employee productivity per full-time equivalent (missed)

• Purpose: How efficiently caseworkers complete applications to change the Register of title (applications weighted for complexity of application type)
• Target: Increase the number of weighted applications manually completed per caseworker full-time equivalent to 12.20 by year-end
• Headline: 10.96 applications per full time equivalent achieved at the end of 2024 to 2025 10.52 11.65 10.96
• A decrease from 11.65 achieved at the end of 2023 to 2024

2022-23	10.52
2023-24	11.65
2024-25	10.96

We assess productivity by evaluating the number of applications requiring our caseworkers’ expertise for completion, rather than those that are automated and available immediately. Although we completed approximately 3% more applications, when weighted by complexity, compared to the previous year and 6% more than we received, our productivity per caseworker temporarily decreased. This was due to the successful recruitment of nearly 200 new caseworkers, who needed time to develop their expertise; our successful targeting of the oldest and most complex outstanding applications, which take longer to complete; and our focus on enhancing the skills and expertise of our existing caseworkers. These factors have an impact on short-term productivity but contribute to greater resilience in the future.

Frequency and impact of errors for new entries on the Register of title (missed)

• Purpose: How well HM Land Registry is improving the quality and integrity of new entries on the Register of title
• Target: Reduce the frequency and impact of errors for new entries on the Register of title by 5% compared to 2023 to 2024
• Headline: 2% reduction achieved at the end of this year

Reducing the frequency and impact of errors for new entries on the Register of title is essential for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of new or updated property records. Errors can lead to significant legal, financial and personal issues for property owners and other stakeholders. By minimising these errors for new entries on the register, we ensure that property transactions are processed smoothly and efficiently, reducing the risk of delays and disputes. This improves the efficiency of property transactions, providing a smoother experience for all parties involved. It not only enhances customer satisfaction but also helps to build trust in our services, as customers can be confident that the new information recorded is accurate.

Ultimately, reducing new errors contributes to the overall stability and transparency of the property market, benefiting both individual property owners and the broader economy. We made encouraging progress in reducing the frequency and impact of errors in 2024 to 2025, establishing a foundation for continued improvement. Building on this momentum, we have initiated the development of a comprehensive Quality Strategy, based on total quality management principles, to take our efforts even further.

This is the first year in which data for this indicator was collected. No prior period data is available.

People perspective

Our one performance indicator was missed.

Employee Engagement Index rank compared to similar other government departments (missed)

• Purpose: How connected HM Land Registry staff feel towards their work and our organisation measured through the annual Civil Service People Survey
• Target: Top quartile of similar government departments
• Headline: Top half of similar government departments in 2024 to 2025
• A decrease from top quartile of similar government departments in 2023 to 2024

2020-21	71%
2021-22	71%
2022-23	65%
2023-24	62%
2024-25	59%

The Employee Engagement Index is captured through the annual Civil Service People Survey ^{[footnote 7]}. This is a summary of five questions relating to engagement which includes: how proud staff feel working for HM Land Registry, whether they would recommend it as a great place to work, whether they feel a strong personal attachment to HM Land Registry, and whether they feel it inspires and motivates them to do the best in their job and achieve the organisation’s objectives. We recognise we need to do more to increase the engagement of our colleagues and have completed a comprehensive culture and engagement review, which will shape our strategy and inform the actions we will take in the year ahead.

Financial perspective

Our one performance indicator was met and exceeded.

Financial expenditure within Departmental Expenditure Limits (achieved)

• Purpose: How effectively HM Land Registry use resources to provide a value for money service
• Target: Deliver our services within 5% of our agreed Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL): -0.47%
• Headline: 99.5% of RDEL budget invested in our services this year
• A positive increase of 0.3% compared with 2023 to 2024

Our Departmental Expenditure Limit budget is set by HM Treasury and is voted on by Parliament at the start of the financial year. Most of our expenditure is on day-to-day business operations, otherwise known as Resource. We successfully delivered our services within our delegated resource budget, demonstrating public value for money and effective control of public expenditure.

Data is for the financial year.

Financial review

In 2024-25, HM Land Registry has continued to be funded through the Parliamentary Estimates process. Its costs are set out in the Statement of Consolidated Net Expenditure (SoCNE) within the Resource Accounts, with the Statement of Consolidated Net Income (SoCI) within the Trust Statement reflecting all our fees, charges and commercial income. HM Land Registry’s year-end position for assets and liabilities are set out in the Statement of Financial Position (SoFP), in both the Resource and Trust Statement Accounts. The detailed financial statements can be found on pages 78 to 83, and pages 87 to 109. There have not been any significant changes to the Financial Reporting Standards in this financial year.

Our key objective in 2024-25 has continued to be bringing down the age of our oldest, most complex cases. This focus has resulted in a material improvement in the age of the applications we hold, which is a key priority of our customers.

At HM Land Registry, we have carefully managed our spend within our parliamentary control totals, with an underspend against our Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) of £4.5m (underspend of 1.0%). Our spend against our Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (CDEL) total was affected by the change in value of our right-of-use assets to reflect our revised occupancy agreements which were agreed with the Government Property Agency (GPA) in March 2025. This accounted for £20.4m of our £25.6m underspend against CDEL (underspend of 48.1%).

Summary table 2024-25	Outturn	Supplementary Estimate Budget
	£000	£000
Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL)
Resource: cash*	414,400	419, 901
Resource: non- cash*	25,402	24,400
Total resource	439,802	444,301
Capital	27,675	53,300
Total DEL	467,477	497,601
Annually Managed Expenditure (AME)
Resource	540	12,000
Capital	0	0
Total	540	12,000

*Numbers adjusted to reflect that the IFRS16 depreciation results in cash outflows.

Resource accounts (RDEL) financial review

	2024-25	2023-24
	£m	£m
Staff costs	330.7	320.2
Purchase of goods and services	72.6	80.6
Depreciation and amortisation charges*	28.6	27.1
Indemnity payments including legal costs**	6.0	2.3
Total operating expenditure	437.9	430.2
Finance (income)/ expense	1.9	1.0
(Profit)/Loss on disposal of non- current assets	0.0	0.0
Net resource expenditure for the year	439.8	431.2
Other provisions utilised	0.0	0.0
Total RDEL	439.8	431.2

*Excludes impairment charged to Annually Managed Expenditure (AME).

**Excludes movements in the indemnity provision (classified as AME).

Staff costs

In 2024-25, we continued to fund overtime to help manage demand for our services, and also funded the annual pay award (made in line with the Civil Service pay remit guidance). Overall, staff costs increased from £320.2m in 2023-24 to £330.7m in 2024-25.

Purchase of goods and services

The key areas of spend and their movements from 2023- 24 to 2024-25 were:

• IT and professional services, which includes maintenance of equipment and licences, where we reduced costs from £29.9m in 2023-24 to £29.5m in 2024-25
• accommodation costs were also reduced from £14.0m in 2023-24 to £12.4m in 2024-25
• other staff costs including training also reducing from £11.1m in 2023-24 to £10.3m in 2024-25

In 2024-25, HM Land Registry performed an in-depth review of all accruals that preceded the current financial year. This work resulted in some accruals being unwound resulting in a write-back of expenditure, which are presented within our ‘Goods and Services’ note alongside our ‘other costs’.

Depreciation and amortisation charges

Amortisation increased by £2.7m following the increase in the capitalisation of assets that occurred between 2023-24 and 2024-25. Depreciation decreased by £1.3m following the revaluation of the right-of-use leases following the release of space back to the Government Property Agency.

Indemnity payments including legal costs

HM Land Registry’s non-staff costs also reflect the impact of our state-backed guarantee of titles, which helps to underpin the integrity of the register. It provides protection for the victims of fraud or error. In 2024-25,£6.0m was allocated against c.750 claims, compared to 2023-24 when £2.3m was paid out against 655 claims.

Finance costs and disposal of non-current assets

In 2024-25, HM Land Registry incurred £1.9m of costs related to the interest expenditure on Finance leases, which reflects the changes in right-of-use lease thatoccurred in year. There were no significant disposals of non-current assets in year.

Resource Annually Managed Expenditure (Resource AME)

HM Land Registry calculates the value of our indemnity provision with the support of the Government Actuary Department, utilising a model that uses our historic claims data and the HM Treasury discount rates to estimate the total value of future economic outflows. The indemnity provision is funded through Resource AME due to the inherent uncertainty of claims. Our spend was£0.5m against a control total of £12.0m (underspend of 95.5%). Future information on Outstanding and Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) claims can be found in Note 14 to the resource accounts, which also includes sensitivity analysis on the most significant assumptions.

Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (Capital DEL)

Total capital expenditure in 2024-25 was £27.7m, against the Supply Estimated total of £53.3m, resulting in an underspend of £25.6m. In March 2025, GPA agreed corrected floor spaces for HM Land Registry occupied buildings, requiring updates to the respective occupancy agreements. This reduction in space reduced the value of the associated right-of-use assets in two different ways: firstly, we recognised a £11.9m CDEL credit to reflect the reduction in floor space; and secondly, we recognised a further £8.5m CDEL credit due to updating the associated IFRS 16 discount rate issued by HM Treasury.

Income

We continue to collect all fees and charges at the point of application and surrender the income to HM Treasury following the completion of the work. This income is reported within the Trust Statement accounts (also included within this annual report). Overall, we have seen a £76.1m increase in income from £319.3m received in 2023-24 to£395.3m in 2024-25 (increase of 19.2%).

Our post-completion registration services generated £259.9m (68.0% of our core fee income). The majority of this income (£173.5m) comes from updates relating to changes to existing titles (such as change of ownership), with new title applications (such as first registrations, transfer of part and new leases) accounting for the rest (£86.4m).

The income related to applications where HM Land Registry has yet to deliver the associated service is held by HM Land Registry as deferred income, or ‘Fees Received in Advance’ (FREDA). In year, there was a net decrease in the value of FREDA of £1.0m. HM Land Registry’s focus in 2024-25 was to focus on tackling the older, more complex work with the aim of reducing the age of our uncompleted work, whichis more resource intensive than processing higher-value, more straightforward applications. In addition, demand for our information services was higher than initially forecasted towards the end of the financial year, partially driven by the change in stamp duty that came into effect from 1 April 2025.

Most of the rest of our core income comes from pre- completion information and enquiry services, which generated £120.0m of income in 2024-25. This was an increase of £37.4m from 2023-24 reflecting both an increase in demand for our services and a fee increase that was implemented in December 2024. Of this, information services, such as official copies and searches that are critical steps within every property transaction, generated £93.7m. Enquiry services, such as Views of the Register, generated £26.3m.

In addition, HM Land Registry also provides other land and property services. * Our digital Land Charges service protects the interest in unregistered land, and we maintain the bankruptcy index for England and Wales. Our Agricultural Credits department maintains a register of short-termloans that are secured on farming stock and other agricultural assets. These services generated £11.4m of income in 2024-25. * Our Local Land Charges programme is a national, instantly accessible register of information held by Local Authorities that have migrated onto the platform. These services generated £1.6m of income in this financial year.

Other income

HM Land Registry provides commercial data services for the customers of the property market and wider economy. Income from this commercial release of our data generated £3.9m in 2024-25.

Spending Review 2025

On 11 June 2025 the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s Spending Review for 2026-27 to 2028-29. As part of the settlement, HM Land Registry will receive a real increase of 1% per annum to its RDEL cash budget, up to £505.0m in 2028-29. In addition, HM Land Registry will receive a flat cash CDEL settlement of £59.1m for the 3 years. The following table provides more details. This Spending Review provides HM Land Registry the certainty and ability to continue to deliver Strategy 25+ and supporting Business Plans.

HM Land Registry spending review settlement

Proposed settlement	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29
	£m	£m	£m
RDEL cash	485.995	502.995	504.995
CDEL	59.1	59.1	59.1

As part of the Spending Review settlement, HM Land Registry is working with HM Treasury regarding its future financial framework from 2026-27 onwards to reflect more direct income retention.

Other corporate information

Public Sector Information Holder

We fulfil our role as a public sector information holder, through adherence to the UK GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and Data Protection Act 2018, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. In accordance with Schedule 2, Para 5(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018, HM Land Registry is exempt from complying with the listed GDPR provisions to the extent that the application of those provisions would prevent us from complying with our statutory obligations, including the Land Registration Act 2002, Land Charges Act 1972, Agricultural Credits Act 1928 and the Local Land Charges Act 1975.

We have continued to improve our internal processes for identifying and responding to information requests. This has resulted in a significant improvement in our published compliance rates for requests received under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Freedom of Information Act 2000. In 2024-25 we processed 590 requests under both regimes and our overall response rate for responding within the statutory timescales during was 97.4%.

To improve transparency further about the processing of personal data held by HM Land Registry, a review of the Personal Information Charter was undertaken, and a revised version was published on 15 April 2025.

Health and safety

This year the focus has been on delivering refreshed health and safety training for all line managers, enhancing our arrangements and support, and working with the GPA on building a resilient health and safety management system with policies that recognises the blend of a changing estate and working arrangements.

We continue to demonstrate a culture of continuous learning and improvement in health and safety management, and this has been recognised in internal and external audits with continued accreditation with ISO 45001.

Modern slavery

We support measures to ensure modern slavery, including human trafficking, has no place in our organisation or supply chains. We continue to use robust procedures in our contracts and recruitment processes. In addition, we facilitate the raising of concerns by colleagues, including any issues relating to our supply chains.

Service standards

Details of the service that customers can expect from us can be found on our website.

Land Registration Rule Committee activities

The Land Registration Rule Committee was constituted under the Land Registration Act 2002 and is classified as an Expert Committee. The committee’s role is to provide advice and assistance to the Secretary of State in making land registration rules and fee orders under the Act.

In this year, the committee scrutinised and advised on changes to the HM Land Registry fee order that came into effect on 9 December 2024.

Welsh Language Scheme

We remain committed to our obligations under the Welsh Language Scheme to treat the English and Welsh languages equally when dealing with the public in Wales. Mike Harlow, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Strategy, is the senior responsible owner for the scheme. We are answerable to the Welsh Language Commissioner, the independent body that monitors our scheme.

We took part in the Welsh Language Commissioner’s ‘Use your Welsh campaign’ once again, promoting our Welsh language services on social media. This included a short video highlighting that customers and members of staff alike are welcome to use the Welsh language with us.

The featured links on our GOV.UK home page are available in Welsh and lead directly to Welsh language pages. Other GOV.UK pages that are available in Welsh can be viewed through selecting the ‘Cymraeg’ tab found in the top right-hand corner of a page. Our dedicated Welsh language team is at hand to assist with Welsh language correspondence and applications. The team can be contacted directly by emailing GwasanaethCymraeg@landregistry.gov.uk or calling 0300 006 0422. Further information on our Welsh language services can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry/about/welsh-language-scheme.

On St David’s Day we introduced our HM Land Registry Welsh Language Award to recognise colleagues who have made a substantial contribution to the Welsh language or the services we offer. Vince Mitchell was the winner of the 2025 award, based on his assistance in ensuring Welsh language forms and practice guides are created, updated and published on GOV.UK.

Parliamentary co-ordination

HM Land Registry’s Parliamentary Hub sits in the Chief’s Office and is responsible for ensuring our Parliamentary processes run smoothly. We handled 30 Parliamentary questions and considered over 28 government and other consultations, providing comments on two, and oversaw HM Land Registry ministerial business and engagement, including dealing with 164 ministerial and Treat Official letters.

Complaints

Our commitment is to provide a high quality and timely service that reflect customer needs and continuously improve our service, resolving more customer complaints and enquires at first contact.

During 2024/25 we reviewed the way we handled complaints and developed a new operating model, improving our people capability and internal ways of working, and better leveraging systems, data and processes. As a result, 92% of complaints were resolved successfully at the first stage of our complaint process, and by the end of March we resolved 75% of complaints within our 20-working-day customer service standards. This marks a 27% increase in the speed of resolution and is a significant step forward in enhancing customer satisfaction, underscoring our commitment to swift, effective and customer-centric action.

During 2024/25 we improved the means of raising a complaint with us, as well as improving the quality and speed of resolution, and have paved the way for more effective learning loops.

We enhanced data capture and created new reporting tools as the foundation to provide better visibility of the customer complaint journey, improving compliance with our published customer service standards.

Complaints accounted for just 0.2% of the service requests we received in 2024/25, demonstrating that most interactions were handled smoothly. This reflects the overall effectiveness of our service delivery across applications and enquiries.

The speed of our services is the biggest issue for our customers. To improve this, we committed to process 95% of applications within 12 months of their submission by the end of March 2025. Investment in recruitment, staff training and focusing on our oldest applications has enabled us to surpass this goal and has reduced the number of complaints about speed of service by 11%.

By embedding first contact resolution principles, as well as improved customer service capability and technology, we now resolve 80% of telephone enquiries at first contact and we’ve increased the speed of written enquiry resolution by 20%.

Addressing these root causes has reduced the number of complaints received by nearly 20% from 9,111 in 2023/24 to 7,319 this year.

The Independent Complaints Reviewer

Customers who have completed HM Land Registry’s full complaint process and remain dissatisfied can ask the Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) to investigate their complaint.

In June 2024, we were saddened by the passing of our ICR, Andrea Cook OBE. While we await the appointment of a new ICR, the Office of the ICR has continued to support customers by offering early resolution for their complaints.

In 2024-25, before her passing, the ICR completed eight full investigations of which two were upheld and one partially upheld. Currently, ten complaints have been investigated and are awaiting consideration by a new ICR.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

If customers remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the ICR’s intervention, they may pursue their case with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). During 2024-25 there has been one enquiry raised with the PHSO and no complaints were investigated.

Learning from our complaints

We view complaints not just as issues to resolve, but as valuable insights that help us improve the way we serve our customers. To strengthen this learning, we’ve recently introduced post-complaint feedback surveys. These help us better understand how customers experience our complaints process and identify opportunities to enhance it, ensuring we continue to build trust, transparency and better outcomes at every stage.

In 2024, we introduced a new complaint data tool that provides greater transparency and deeper insights into the reasons customers are complaining. We plan to share these detailed insights with senior leaders and service delivery teams across the organisation, enabling them to improve processes, guidance, and services continuously to enhance the customer experience.

Improving customer satisfaction

Streamlining our processes and enhancing communication, including resolving at first contact wherever possible, has provided greater consistency in the identification and handling of customer dissatisfaction, and has embedded a culture of ownership and accountability.

We have introduced Customer Contact guiding principles to shape improved customer contact experience, motivated by a resolution focus, and have introduced a new customer enquiry quality assurance framework to ensure this is working well for all our customers.

Celebrating national recognition

In 2024, our commitment to service excellence was recognised at the UK National Contact Centre Awards. We are especially proud that our Training Team took home the award for Training Team of the Year in June, highlighting our investment in people and continuous improvement. In March we were proud to be named finalists in the Quality Team of the Year and Complaints Team of the Year categories, reflecting the dedication of our teams to delivering consistently high standards and meaningful resolutions for our customers.

Next steps

We are committed to continuously enhancing our service, ensuring our customers get what they need, when they need it, as consistently as possible. When additional support is required, we will ensure the right skilled experts are available.

Glossary

Agricultural Credits Register	A register against which provides a means of ensuring security for lending over farm assets such as livestock and equipment.
Application	Applying for the registration of unregistered land, updating registered land or property titles, or applying for information from HM Land Registry.
Application Programming Interface (API)	Enables companies to open up their applications’ data and functionality to external third-party developers, business partners and internal departments within their companies.
Artificial intelligence (AI)	Intelligence and learning demonstrated by machines.
Business Gateway	The Business Gateway Application Programming Interface allows customers to seamlessly access our services from within their case management systems and automate repetitive processes.
Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (Capital DEL, CDEL)	Investment in internally-generated software, IT equipment and estates.
CO2/carbon footprint	The total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) generated by our actions.
Common data standards	Data standards set a clear and common understanding of how the government must describe, record, store, manage and access data in consistent ways.
Critical National Infrastructure	A term used to describe processes, systems, facilities, technologies, networks, assets and services essential to the nation’s health, safety, security or economic wellbeing and the effective functioning of government.
Data economy	A global digital ecosystem in which data is gathered, organized, and exchanged by a network of vendors for the purpose of deriving value from the accumulated information.
Digitisation	The process of converting information into a digital (computer-readable) format.
Digital by default	The current position for submitting applications to HM Land Registry, under which the default option is digital, whether via the customer portal using the Digital Registration Service or using software connected to the Business Gateway APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
Digital identity	A virtual form of identity which reduces the time, effort and expense that sharing physical documents can take when people need to provide legal proof of who they are.
Digital transformation	The adoption of digital technology by a company. Common goals for its implementation are to improve efficiency, value or innovation.
Digital Registration Service	An HM Land Registry portal service allowing applications to be submitted digitally where the data is automatically checked before it is lodged.
Digital Street	An existing research and development approach, collaborating with a strong community of innovation leaders, entrepreneurs and creative disruptors to push the boundaries of property market expectations.
Expedites/expedite services	Customers can request HM Land Registry processes an application urgently.
FAIR	Findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable data.
First registration	The requirement to register unregistered freehold and leasehold estates in land.
Geospatial Commission	An expert committee, sponsored by the Cabinet Office, that sets the UK’s geospatial strategy and promotes the best use of geospatial data.
Geospatial	Data and information associated with a particular location or place.
Geovation	The practice of using location data and intelligence to help identify opportunities and create solutions.
Geovation Accelerator Programme	The scheme supported by HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey providing PropTech and geospatial start-ups with grant funding, access to data, technical expertise and business support.
Greening Government Commitments	The actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment in the period 2021 to 2025.
Guaranteed information services	Services that provide information and results which come with a state guarantee.
Home Buying and Selling Group	An informal mix of people across the property, legal and finance sectors working together to improve the home buying and selling process for consumers.
Land Charges	Interests in unregistered land that are capable of being protected by entry in the Land Charges Register.
Land Charges Register	A register that contains the following information: a register of land charges, a register of pending actions and pending actions in bankruptcy, a register of writs and orders effecting land and writs and orders in bankruptcy, a register of deeds of arrangement affecting land and a register of annuities.
Land Registration Academy	The staff training centre of excellence at HM Land Registry.
Land Registry Advisory Council	An advisory board that ensures stakeholders’ interests are considered when developing policies, services and products. It provides an opportunity for information exchange and discussion, drawing on the collective knowledge and expertise of the members.
Land Registry Industry Forum	A cross-section of customers and stakeholders within the property market who work together to find new ways to improve the conveyancing process.
Leadership & Management Academy	HM Land Registry’s centre of excellence for leadership and management development.
Local Land Charges (LLC) Register	A statutory register that contains local authority information about the use and enjoyment of properties. It includes things such as listed building status, tree preservation orders and other environmental protections.
Machine learning	The study of computer algorithms that can improve automatically through experience and by the use of data.
Machine readable	Data structured and coded in such a way that it can be processed by a computer.
MapSearch	An online mapping tool allowing customers to establish quickly whether land and property in England or Wales is registered.
Migration Hub	An online source of guidance and support for local authorities migrating their local land charges data to the Local Land Charges Register.
National Data Strategy	An ambitious, pro-growth strategy that drives the UK in building a world- leading data economy while ensuring public trust in data use.
National Geospatial Strategy	Promotes and safeguards the use of location data to provide an evidenced view of the market value of location data, set clear guidelines on data access, privacy, ethics and security, and promote better use of location data. Owned by the Geospatial Commission.
Net Zero	Achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
Official copy	Copies of deeds and documents filed with us, including title registers and title plans, which are guaranteed as being accurate and are admissible as evidence as if they were the original.
Official search	Allows people such as homebuyers or mortgage lenders to have their purchase, lease or charge prioritised for completion over applications lodged subsequently
Open data	Data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone.
PropTech	The use of technology to help individuals and companies research, buy, sell and manage real estate.
Register create application	Any application that leads to the creation of a completely new register, such as a transfer of part of an existing title, a new lease or registration of land for the first time.
Register of Overseas Entities	A public register of beneficial owners of non-UK entities that own or buy land in the UK, operated by the Companies House registrar.
Register of title	Records the ownership of land and property in England and Wales.
Register update	Any application to change the register of the whole of an existing property title, including new mortgages, name changes, transfers and discharges.
Register view	Viewing the current version of the register.
Requisition/request for information	Where HM Land Registry has to make enquiries to the applicant on an application because information or evidence is missing or incorrect and so cannot be processed.
Restriction	An entry that limits HM Land Registry from updating the register unless specified conditions are met.
Search of the Index Map (SIM)	An application to find out whether a piece of land is registered, and, if so, what the title number is, under r.145, LRR 2003.
Search for land and property information	A service allowing customers to download copies of the property summary, title plan and title register for properties in England and Wales.
Senior Executive Team	The executive team that handles the day-to-day running of HM Land Registry.
Title	The evidence of a person’s right to property.
Use land and property data	Datasets about all registered land and property in England and Wales.
View Applications	A free-to-use service within the HM Land Registry portal which allows users to view all the applications made using the portal, as well as checking the status and downloading all relevant documentation relating to each application.

Simon Hayes
Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar
7 July 2025

1. Internal HM Land Registry calculations estimating the value of our datasets using cost-based impact valuation. ↩

2. Infrastructure Act 2015 ↩

3. Local Land Charges Programme – GOV.UK ↩

4. New Digital Property Market Steering Group formed to drive crucial digital transformation in the land and property market – GOV.UK ↩

5. Join Geovation to unlock the value in geospatial data – HM Land Registry ↩

6. As set out in Fees: HM Land Registry guides – GOV.UK ↩

7. Civil Service People Survey 2024 - Results Highlights - GOV.UK ↩