HM Land Registry (HMLR) has issued a statement highlighting that some of their services are likely to be disrupted.

Find a property, register create applications, and register update application services are set to experience significant disruptions with discharge updates facing moderate disruption in times of remote working.

Whilst HMLR are working hard to prioritise services allowing property transactions to continue as normal, the following services will face slight delays and disruptions:

Bankruptcy searches
Land charges searches
Local land charges searches
MapSearch
Official copies of documents
Official searches of the index map
Official searches of part
Official searches of whole
Property Alert

HMLR will extend all current cancellation dates until 1 June 2020. Until this time, warnings and cancellations will not be issued. Requests to extend a notice period or allow a further period for making objections will also be granted, if Covid-19 is causing any issues.

A letter from Simon Hayes, chief executive of HMLR, commented:

“In these challenging times, our thoughts are with all of you who are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the difficult circumstances it is creating.

“We are working hard to minimise disruption and are prioritising the services that allow property transactions to continue. Our Business e-services are fully functional. However we are facing varying degrees of disruption and there may be some delays as we are experiencing a high volume of enquiries. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“On 26 March the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government issued guidance on the buying and selling of homes and we have supported the latest industry-wide guidance, which aims to help conveyancers assist clients and comply with the regulations and guidance on home moving.”