HM Land Registry customers support time-saving form RXC

Following customer feedback on the Restriction: Consent or Certificate form (RXC), HM Land Registry has just published version 2 of the form RXC.

And they’re delighted to hear some of our biggest customers are adopting the form and embedding it into their own systems.

Christine Walsh, Post Completions Manager at Stockport-based O’Neill Patient Solicitors LLP, said:

“We are incorporating [form RXC] into our case management system as it will mean we can automate the form for signature, therefore freeing up time for the case managers to deal with other aspects of their files. This will help with the reduction of requisitions.”

Requisitions – or requests for information – cause extensive delays both to conveyancing and registration times, and compliance with a restriction in the register is one of the main reasons for raising a point.

For example, between 1 October 2020 and 31 October 2021 more than 1 million applications received a requisition in relation to restrictions, with more than 134,000 points raised for one of 60 reasons.

It’s why the Land Registry devised the form RXC and why it’s good to know it is helping their customers.

What prompted an updated version?

HM Land Registry really appreciate feedback from their customers about all aspects of their services. Recently, they’ve used this feedback to help make changes to form RXC.

Form RXC (RX=restriction; c=consent/certificate) is a new way to provide a consent or certificate to comply with a restriction in the register and has been available to customers since the end of July 2021.

In September, HM Land Registry held a series of popular webinars to introduce form RXC. If you missed them, a recording is available on GOV.UK. This gave them the chance to hear first-hand what you thought of the form and how it could be improved. They have also had a good response to our request for feedback through their online blogs.

Thanks to this, they have made some improvements to the form and a new version is now available.

What’s changed and why

Customers told HM Land Registry:
  • The wording of the consent given in panel 4 should be to the disposition and its registration – both often need to be confirmed as part of a conveyancing transaction.
    • Land Registry response: We have revised the wording in panel 4 to allow a consent to be given to a disposition and its registration, making it easy for both consents to be provided.
  • More guidance should be available around how to complete panel 3 of the form to indicate who is providing the consent or certificate.
    • Land Registry response: We have expanded our guidance on some of the terms we use in panel 3 of the form. This now explains what we mean by “personally named”, and which boxes should be ticked if a restriction describes an individual’s status or job title, without naming them. This further guidance will help you choose the option most appropriate to the circumstances.
    • We have added a quick reference table to Practice Guide 19 – new section 3.1.6.7. This gives you a convenient, at-a-glance way to determine which parts of panel 3 you need to complete in various circumstances.
  • It is not clear how the form can be used by developers to provide a bulk consent or certificate.
    • Land Registry response: We have included new guidance on this in panels 4 and 5 of the form, including the wording to use when describing different plots in a development.
  • There is not enough space in the text boxes on the PDF version of the form.
    • Land Registry response: We have amended the PDF version to include larger boxes so that more text can be inserted when required.

What’s next?

HM Land Registry hopes these changes will enable more customers to follow O’Neill Patient’s lead and adopt form RXC, which makes the process of complying with the terms of a restriction easier for everyone involved.

The form will continue to evolve based on customer feedback, which you can provide by completing this short survey.

 

Kindly shared by HM Land Registry

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay