New Land Registry checks: what they mean for your home move

When you buy, sell or remortgage a home, completion day can feel like the finish line. You have the keys, the money has changed hands, and the hard part is over. There is one more step behind the scenes, though. We still need to send an application to HM Land Registry, the government body that keeps the official record of who owns each property, so it can update its records. That can take months.

Much of that delay has nothing to do with how complicated your move was. It comes from small admin mistakes: a name spelt slightly differently, a missing document, a date in the wrong format. HM Land Registry has been bringing in automatic checks to catch these mistakes before an application is sent, and they are already making a difference.

Here we explain what the checks do, what they mean for you, and how you can help your move go smoothly.

What are the new checks?

Almost every application to update the Land Registry's records is now sent online. Since autumn 2025, the online system has been checking applications for simple mistakes before it accepts them. In November 2025, the same checks were added to the software many solicitors use for conveyancing.

The idea is simple. If the system spots a mistake it recognises, it will not accept the application. Whoever is preparing it has to put the mistake right first.

There are more than twenty checks in all. For example:

• each person's name must be included and written in the English alphabet

• if you already own the property, your name must match the Land Registry's records, or there must be evidence to explain why it does not

• the mortgage amount must be a number above zero, and the mortgage date cannot be in the future

• the property's reference number (its title number) must be valid, and the contact address must be a real postal address

• if two or more people are buying together, the application must say how they will own the property (as "joint tenants" or "tenants in common"), or include the right paperwork

Some issues, such as certain missing supporting evidence, do not stop an application. Instead, they are flagged, and the Land Registry will ask about them later in the usual way.

Why does this matter to you?

When the Land Registry cannot finish processing an application, it writes to the solicitor asking for the missing information. This is called a requisition, and it is one of the biggest causes of avoidable delay. The Land Registry says nearly one in five applications gets one, and close to half of them could have been avoided.

Each one adds time. The application effectively goes to the back of the queue while letters go back and forth. Catching the mistake at the start avoids that altogether.

The early signs are good. Over 2025-26, the Land Registry sent more than 100,000 fewer of these letters, and avoidable ones fell by around 7% in the six months to March 2026. By 2028, it expects the changes to save around 300,000 hours of work a year.

What is coming next?

So far, the checks look at the details typed into the application. The next stage, planned for late 2026, will go further. It will compare those details with the legal documents themselves, such as the transfer deed or the mortgage deed. Names, dates, the property description and the title number will all need to match.

That makes it more important than ever that the paperwork is prepared carefully from the start.

How long does registration take?

These checks help applications go through more smoothly, but on their own they do not clear the existing backlog. Just over 30% of applications are handled automatically and completed within minutes. Of the rest, more than half take around sixteen weeks, most are finished in about eight months, and some take closer to ten.

If that sounds worrying, there is some reassurance. Your legal ownership is protected from the moment the Land Registry receives the application (as long as it is in order), not from when it finishes processing it. A long wait should not leave you unprotected.

If a delay would cause a real problem, for example because another sale or a remortgage depends on it, we can ask the Land Registry to speed the application up, free of charge. It did this for more than 200,000 people over the past year, and deals with most of these requests within ten working days.

How can you help?

Most of the work here is ours. But a few things are in your hands, and they are exactly the things the new checks are most likely to pick up.

Give your name exactly as it appears on your ID, such as your passport or driving licence. If you already own the property, give it exactly as it appears on the Land Registry's records.

If you have changed your name through marriage, civil partnership or deed poll, tell us early and send us the paperwork. Do not wait to be asked.

If you are buying with someone else, decide before completion how you want to own the property, and let us know. We can explain the options.

Tell us about anyone else who lives in the property or may have a claim to it, even informally.

These changes apply to England and Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems.

Are you a developer or business client?

Larger or more complex applications work differently. These include property portfolios, major infrastructure, land being registered for the first time, splitting existing titles and granting new leases. Between 55% and 65% of these need extra information before they can be completed. Fewer than 12% are finished within a month, although most are dealt with within twelve months.

This matters in two ways.

First, the document-matching checks coming in late 2026 will be felt most here. On a new development, where dozens or hundreds of plot sales use the same set of documents, one repeated mistake could hold up every sale. Getting the paperwork right at the start has always mattered. It is about to matter a great deal more.

Second, preparation pays off. Where the groundwork is done with the Land Registry in advance, half of these applications are completed in about nine months, and almost all within twelve. Without it, some take around thirteen months. The Land Registry is now working with developers earlier, and more than half of the top fifty housebuilders use its dedicated service for complex transactions.

If you have a development, a portfolio purchase or a refinancing coming up, involve us when the site is being set up, rather than when individual plots are being sold. It will save time later.

Buying, selling or remortgaging?

Registering the change of ownership is the final step of your move, and it is one we take care of for you. Getting the details right from the start helps avoid delays, and means one less thing for you to worry about.

If you have an application with the Land Registry at the moment, or a move or remortgage coming up, and would like to know how these changes might affect you, we are here to help.

If you would like to talk it through, please call us, email us or visit our contact page.

Anita Bushell leads the New Homes and Residential Property teams at Nicholsons and helps people buy, sell and remortgage homes across Norfolk and Suffolk. With us, you deal with the same dedicated person from start to finish. If you would like to get in touch please call 01603 558 700 or email query@nicholsonslaw.com