We have made a number of key improvements to our digital services over the last year. HM Land Registry became ‘Digital by Default’ in November 2022 and, drawing on feedback from customers, we continue to adapt our services to more closely meet their needs.
Between April 2023 and April 2024, there were approximately 8,000 daily portal users, collectively making a total of 4,000,000 visits and almost 1.5 million applications were submitted through our Digital Registration Service (DRS). Just under 3,000 customers now have access to Business Gateway which is software connected to our services through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). The move to digital is a crucial part of our efforts to provide a faster registration service.
HM Land Registry portal
We enhanced the View Applications tool on the portal which helps users to manage their applications and easily find related correspondence. Early in the year we introduced flags against applications that had outstanding requisitions, as well as a filter function to isolate those that needed a response. This change has made it much easier to find requisitions, reducing customers’ reliance on emails.
Also on the portal, our DRS made it much easier to save applications which are still being drafted, meaning that work is not lost if users need to disconnect or close an application halfway through. We also made it possible to edit all essential details within a draft application.
Customers have also been telling us more about how they work, sharing applications with colleagues, which had historically been an issue when using the DRS. In December, we introduced the function for users to access their colleagues’ applications, complete and submit them as well as transfer applications between colleagues.
Customers noted that this not only made the DRS more user-friendly, saving them a significant amount of time, but it will also help with training new staff who have applications checked before submission.
We are continuing to respond to customer feedback and make enhancements to the portal. Most recently, we have enhanced Estimated Completion Date so the date is more accurate, enabling greater clarity and understanding of when a submitted application will be completed, and improved filters for requisitions and warnings of cancellation in View Applications.
We have also increased file size from 20mb to 40mb for files that are being uploaded or downloaded in the portal to allow greater flexibility when uploading and downloading documents to and from the portal.
By summer 2024, we will enhance elements of our reply to requisition tools to enable additional parties to work on applications in the DRS.
Business Gateway
We have also brought our Estimated Completion Date tool to our Business Gateway APIs.
Our Business Gateway APIs allow third-party software to connect with HM Land Registry’s systems. The software developers can now enhance their case management software by including an indicator of when a case will be completed.
Customers connected through these APIs now also have access to greater levels of pre-submission validation options. Now our systems can help check whether the right date, fee or mortgage document (MD) reference has been entered on an application.
We also enhanced our Official Copy Document Availability service, which provides much more accessible information on official copies, saving customers’ time by extracting key information.
This summer, we will begin work to enhance APIs to improve the service and introduce further validation tools to help ensure applications are complete and correct before submission.
Digital applications
Both channels are key in our bid to receive the majority of our applications as ‘digital applications’, where the application is received in a way that is quicker for us to process. The move to digital is an essential tool in helping HM Land Registry to provide faster registration services.
Digital applications also make it easier to automate more of our work. Moving away from paper forms, or scanned copies, removes the need for our caseworkers to retype information into our casework systems. This also reduces the risk of human error and means that we can process applications much more quickly.
More than 87% of our applications were made digitally in the 2024-25 financial year, amounting to more than 3.7m applications in total.
Stay up to date with the work we are doing to enhance the portal, the DRS and Business Gateway by checking our Digital services road map where we list recent changes, projects we are actively working on, and ideas we are exploring for the future. Read our guidance page to find out how you can use the portal to make your work quicker and easier. It also provides guidance on how to sign up for Business Gateway enabled tools.