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Land Registry Delay of up to 5 years: "The issue of Land Registry delays is really starting to impact borrowers"

Journalist: Emma Jones, When The Bank Says No

ended 20. May 2025

In Cheshire, a cluster of bespoke homes built over two years ago, CB Homes Kingsley, still has no updates recorded at the Land Registry according to one broker on Newspage, which is just one of thousands of examples of Land Registry applications still not complete, raising fresh concerns over significant title registration delays — and the impact on borrowers and the wider property market.

Even worse, one broker, Riz Malik, director at R3 Wealth, says he has a case that is now five years old: “In the age of AI, I struggle to understand why there are such lengthy delays. I have a case on my desk where, five years later, it still has not been resolved delaying the remortgage process and impacting my client. They system is broken and needs to be fixed urgently especially if we want to speed up the house buying process.”

According to Emma Jones, Managing Director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk: “The issue of Land Registry delays is really starting to impact borrowers and the broader property market. When people come to remortgage, for example, the lack of recent sold prices can drag the valuation down. That can push borrowers into a higher LTV bracket, which means a higher interest rate or less money available for things like home improvements. It’s one of those issues that borrowers don’t see, but it’s definitely holding them back and causing problems.”

Justin Moy, Managing Director at EHF Mortgages, agreed: "Delays long enough to impact the first remortgage after a purchase shows exactly how far behind the Land Registry is with its backlog. This has started to cost clients who have had to stay on their SVR or follow-on rates whilst the solicitors attempt to rectify this. Given the government has set aside billions in grants and incentives for foreign investment into AI, perhaps they can throw a few coins in the HMLR tin whilst they look at their small change. This is what hurts our country, and costs our borrowers."

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6 responses from the Newspage community

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Emma Jones
Managing Director at Whenthebanksaysno.co.uk
The issue of Land Registry delays is really starting to impact borrowers and the broader property market. When people come to remortgage, for example, the lack of recent sold prices can drag the valuation down. That can push borrowers into a higher LTV bracket, which means a higher interest rate or less money available for things like home improvements. It’s one of those issues that borrowers don’t see, but it’s definitely holding them back and causing problems. Issues at the Land Registry are increasingly affecting borrowers all around the land.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
In the age of AI, I struggle to understand why there are such lengthy delays. I have a case on my desk where, five years later, it still has not been resolved delaying the remortgage process and impacting my client. They system is broken and needs to be fixed urgently especially if we want to speed up the house buying process.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
This is a huge problem, which is potentially distorting the market particularly around AVMs. Also, it is impacting investors who are buying and refinancing as Land Registry need expediting for a mortgage application. Some lenders will allow applications backed up with TR1 but others need the property registered prior to application. In this day and age this should not be the problem that it is and has been for so long.
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Justin Moy
Managing Director at EHF Mortgages
Delays long enough to impact the first remortgage after a purchase shows exactly how far behind the Land Registry is with its backlog. This has started to cost clients who have had to stay on their SVR or follow-on rates whilst the solicitors attempt to rectify this. Given the government has set aside billions in grants and incentives for foreign investment into AI, perhaps they can throw a few coins in the HMLR tin whilst they look at their small change. This is what hurts our country, and costs our borrowers.
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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
In 2023-24, SDLT raised £11.6 billion. The OBR projected £14 billion for 2024-25, yet we have a five-year backlog at the Land Registry. Borrowers suffer, stuck on high rates like 5% for Help to Buy clients, unable to remortgage in a 0.75% growth economy. Developers can’t sell, landlords can’t lease, and sales collapse amid 3.7% inflation and 9:1 housing unaffordability. HMLR’s digital efforts, like the 2021 service, flop, failing to clear backlogs. Urgent systemic reform is needed to save the property market.
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Kundan Bhaduri
Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at The Kushman Group
HMLR continues to operate in the digital age with quill-pen efficiency. Despite promises of digitisation, nearly 1 in 6 HMLR applications languish beyond 12 months, with new builds waiting up to 19 months for legal existence – a Kafkaesque purgatory where “priority protection” means precisely squat when remortgage deals expire in 3 months. The Tories’ 2022 “transformation strategy” achieved precisely two things: a 1,000-strong bureaucrat army and a 70% automation target still three years distant. Meanwhile, Labour mutters about “tech solutions” while letting 23,000 monthly complex applications choke the system. HMLR's crisis isn’t about staff shortages but rather an allergy to 21st-century solutions. When AI can draft legislation but HMLR can’t process a lease extension in under four months, the message this government is sending is that Britain’s property market needs more wholesale rewriting and less “we’re prioritising your case”. Complete nonsense.