Land registration charge to soar from January

By Michael Cross >>

(3 November 2021)

HM Land Registry fees for registers and transfers of title are to rise by up to 21% in January, the agency announced this morning. The increase in charges for applications for first registration and for the registration of transfers, leases and mortgages, is the first since 2009, HMLR said. 

It will allow the agency, which is funded by user charges via the Treasury, ‘to move forward with plans to deliver what customers need’, a statement this morning said. This includes ‘more consistency and speed in service delivery by investing in both operational capacity and accelerating the digitalisation and automation of services’.

Fees for applications submitted electronically will increase by 11%; the increase for applications submitted by post will be by 21%. HMLR also announced ‘some minor changes to fees and exemptions’. The changes come into effect on 31 January under a statutory instrument laid before parliament yesterday.  

The announcement follows the revelation in last week’s budget and spending review that HMLR’s spending will increase by 19.7% in cash terms over the next three years, to £383.7m in 2024-25. A spokesperson said the spending review announcement ‘does not provide an additional source of income, rather it sets out our approved spending plans along with our income forecasts’.

(Courtesy: The Law Society Gazette)