§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General whether he will take steps to reduce the time taken by Her Majesty's land registry, Gloucester, to process applications for the registration of freeholds, assuming no requisitions.
§ The Attorney-GeneralIn order to meet the unprecedented volume of applications received for registration in the administrative areas served by the Gloucester district land registry, and to reduce the time taken to deal with applications, a new office has been opened in Coventry. A total of 244 staff are now in post there, the majority being under training. Under the provisions of the Land Registration (District Registries) (No. 2) Order 1987, the office will be constituted as a district registry in October 1988 and will take over responsibility from the Gloucester office for registration in the west midlands.
§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General what is the average time taken, assuming no requisitions, for the Land Registry to deal with applications for the registration of a freehold; and how this period has varied in each of the last three years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe average completion times for first registration applications (freeholds and leaseholds) at the end of each of the last three financial years were:
Days 31 March 1986 73 31 March 1987 110 31 March 1988 156 No figures are kept at the Land Registry to distinguish between the completion times on applications requiring requisitions and those not requiring requisitions.
§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General what, by grade, is the current establishment at Her Majesty's land registry, Gloucester; how this has varied in each of the last three years; and how many officers have been in place against establishment in each of the past three years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe tables provides details of the established and staff in post at the Gloucester district land registry as at 1 June in each of the last three years.
286W
Year Official search of whole Official search of part Official search of the index map Office copy of the register Enquiries 1985–86 182,330 31,618 163,819 63,279 53,113 1986–87 227,396 31,021 202,899 76,543 63,137 1987–88 245,345 33,606 223,394 91,101 75,369
1 June 1986 1 June 1987 1 June 1988 Establishment 743 747 1590 Staff in post Permanent 642 676 706 Casual 30 53 30 Total 722 729 736 1 Plus 328 posts at the new Coventry office. The information classified by grades is not immediately available. I will reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General what, in each of the past three years, has been the annual cost, by financial heading, of running Her Majesty's land registry, Gloucester; and what in each year has been the annual profit or loss.
§ The Attorney-GeneralSince not all the Land Registry's costs are allocated to its local offices, profit and loss figures are available only for the registry as a whole. The following is a summary of spending on certain items for which costs were allocated to the Gloucester district land registry since 1985. The figures for 1987–88 are provisional:
1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 Manpower 5,118,376 5,853,529 6,543,485 Building Capital 72,791 294,869 94,243 Non-computer machinery capital 32,084 106,236 136,153 Stationery 101,104 75,120 157,694 Postages & Telecoms 286,197 290,454 333,672 Machinery Current 39,152 52,898 67,350 Accommodation 350,842 522,190 616,937 Ordnance Survey 326,199 287,205 423,065 Others 125,329 103,942 120,992 Total 6,452,074 7,586,443 8,493,591
§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General what, in each of the past three years, has been the number of applications by group dealt with by Her Majesty's land registry, Gloucester; what is the current charge for handling applications by group; and how this has varied in each of the past three years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe number of applications, in each of the relevant work categories, completed at the Gloucester district land registry in the last three years is:
287W
Year First registrations Dispositionary first leases and transfers of part Dealings 1985–86 24,649 25,300 169,438 1986–87 25,364 21,336 181,135 1987–88 23,134 25,721 218,753 Most land registry fees are related to the value of the property concerned. The following table shows how fees have changed at a typical value(£45,000) during the last three years:
First Registrations £ Transfers of Part £ Dealings with the whole £ 1985 Fee Order (June 1985–September 1986) 66 105 105 1986 Fee Order (October 1986–May 1988) 60 70 70 1988 Fee Order (from June 1988) 60 60 60
§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Attorney-General what is the current level of fee charged by the Land Registry to get speedier consideration of applications for the registration of a freehold; when this was last increased; what is the average time taken to deal with applications on this basis, assuming no requisitions; and how this has varied in each year since this facility was introduced.
§ The Attorney-GeneralAn application for special expedition currently attracts a fee of not less than £25. That fee was increased from not less than £20 from 1 June 1988 by the Land Registration Fee Order 1988 (S.I. 1988 No. 665). No information is available on average times taken to deal with expedited applications and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.