Wednesday 30 March 2016

Sold out

Today I asked one of my team to make a call to the Land Registry to find out how much longer it will be before our application to register the transfer of part of a plot of land will be processed.

The transaction was completed at the end of last year and the application for registration lodged in January.

The response was disturbing – on two levels.

First, we were informed that there is currently a backlog of six months – yes, half a year. Imagine what goes on (or can’t) in the property market over that period of time, even in dull times.

This was followed by the illustrative report that the call-handler is currently dealing with applications lodged in July 2015.

So, actually that’s 8 months, not 6, and you’re so disillusioned perhaps that you’ve lost track of time…

On any analysis this is lamentable. I thought our local courts were a scandal, taking as they are 5-6 weeks to draw an order (even when we have drafted and e-filed it). They are – but this is just surreal.

One couldn’t contemplate for one moment of course that this is the product of some filthy trick by a government committed to selling off the Land Registry that has until recently been so efficient and would net them a chunk of cash to aid the hopeless task of balancing the books..

One way or the other, it’s an ugly state of affairs.