Conveyancers, buyers and other service users will shortly be able to file legal documents using virtual signing tech and without the need for a third party to formally bear witness

HM Land Registry is to enable property lawyers to use electronic signatures on property deeds for the first time – removing the need for an external third party to formally witness a manual signature.

Permitting virtual signatures on applications, transfer deeds, and other legal documents will offer “greater flexibility and simplicity… [and] also offers greater security and assurance for everyone involved in a property transaction,” according to HMLR.

The non-ministerial department added that it is “keen to support interested lawyers, their clients and lenders, as the property market increasingly looks towards the new signature technology for the benefits it offers them and their clients”.

Specialist property lawyers – known as conveyancers – and any other users interested in making use of qualified electronic signatures (QES) are encouraged to get in touch with the registry to “ensure customers are supported, and their QES applications handled correctly”.

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HMLR indicated that it “will provide more information in coming months about our work with QES applications”.

Deputy director of digital services Andy Roddy said: “We are excited to enable our customers the option to use qualified electronic signatures in their land registration applications. This marks another major step forward in our ongoing digital transformation, as we keep pace with – and meet the needs of – our most technologically advanced customers. We hope all of our customers will be able to benefit from this new and valuable technology.”

HMLR is responsible for administering the purchase and ownership of land and property throughout England and Wales. According to GOV.UK, it the Land Register it maintains contains 26.5 million titles – encompassing about 90% of the landmass of the two countries. The value of the property and land under its watch adds up to £8tn, and the organisation’s work supports £1tn’s worth of mortgages and other lending, the government website says.

The registry recently shed light on plans to appoint commercial partners to contracts worth more than £70m which are intended to support the use of digital and data in “delivering radical, permanent changes” to the organisation and its work.