Land Registry's digital signature speeds up remortgaging conveyancing

Digital property transactions are fast becoming the norm as more home buyers sign their mortgage deeds online.

High street lenders are signing up to use HM Land Registry's digital service, meaning that remortgaging conveyancing is well on the way to becoming a much more simple and quick process.

The Land Registry's Digital Street research project is transforming how it offers its services to home buyers and to conveyancing solicitors who generally register the sale of land and property with the registry.

It's now a year since the UK's first digital mortgage deed was signed, and the Land Registry has confirmed that all the major high street lenders are now on board with offering this "sign your mortgage deed" service to homeowners who are remortgaging.

Those lenders include Nationwide, HSBC, RBS, NatWest, Santander, Clydesdale Yorkshire Banking Group and Metro Bank, paving the way to an eventual paperless process.

Buyers can now sign the essential deeds for their new home loan at a time and place that suits them, using their mobile phone, laptop or tablet.

The digital signature means there's now no need to grab a pen and physically sign a piece of paper. And nor do those signees need an independent witness present to confirm the documents have been signed, removing the hassle of finding a witness and then returning the signed documents by post and also then removing any risk of documents being lost in the post.

Lord Henley, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: "People are doing an ever-increasing amount online, from shopping to banking, e-learning to gaming.

"Now they can remortgage their home online as it's quicker, more convenient and fits their busy lives.

"HM Land Registry's digital transformation is continuing to make it easier for home buyers by embracing new technologies like blockchain, enabling them to become the world's leading land registry."