E-Conveyancing revolution set to be called off

In the latest (January) edition of the Legal Technology Insider newsletter (which should be hitting most desktops later today) we report on the in-fighting between the Inland Revenue and the Land Registry over the future of e-conveyancing in the UK. One of our moles, who gets to sit in on HMRC/SDLT committee meetings reports that at their meeting this Monday, it became apparent the agency is strapped for cash and that very little new development work can be expected in the coming months. It also appears the Land Registry has failed, at least for the time being, in its plans to become the dominant player in the e-conveyancing market. I fact even their beloved Chain Matrix project is being delayed – which possibly explains why the pilot project never handled integration with case management systems. Although another explanation is that the Land Registry was unaware of how widespread the use of case management software is in the conveyancing process.HMRC has also released its report looking into why there has been such a slow take up of online filing (see attached document) – which can basically be summarised as Government Gateway registration is a pain.