John Fawcett has joined the firm as Partner
Property transactions have been affected along with most other business during the Covid-19 situation. Many people have highlighted the fact that it has proven difficult to have documents dealt with in accordance with the usual Land Registry rules and in these unusual times it is harder to verify the identity of clients.
Today (4th May) The Land Registry have announced that they will accept the “Mercury” signing approach from deeds with immediate effect, on a temporary basis. In essence, solicitors will be able to email a transfer deed (or other deeds) to their clients, who then only need to print, sign and witness the signature page and take a photo of that or scan before returning it by email to their solicitor to complete.
Identity verification
In addition to conveyancers and chartered legal executives, verification of identity can now be undertaken by people who work, or have worked, in certain professions including:-
- Retired conveyancers, chartered legal executives, solicitors and barristers
- Bank officials and regulated financial advisers
- Doctors, dentists and veterinary surgeons
- Accountants
- Police officers and officers in the UK Armed Forces
- Teachers and college and university teaching staff
- Members of Parliament and Welsh Assembly members
- Civil servants of Senior Executive officer grade or above
- Magistrates
Video calls will also be permitted as a valid way of confirming identity for the Land Registry for the first time. The full text of HM Land Registry’s announcement is in the link below:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-identity-verification-and-signing-deeds
If you would like any advice about the Land Registry changes or any other property matter, please contact Piers Meadows, Managing Partner of Meadows Ryan, by email : piersmeadows@meadowsryan.com or on 01932 852 057. We continue to offer a full service by remote working. More details of our services can be found at www.meadowsryan.com
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