Land Registry increases fees

08/07/2009

Changes to the Land Registry's fee structure have been announced by the organisation.

The Land Registry said that the effects of the housing downturn and recession had led it to hike its charges for the first time since 1993.

Over the past year, house prices have declined by over ten per cent and mortgage loan approvals have also collapsed in volume.

This has put financial pressure on firms like the Land Registry.

Effective immediately, the new system charges £50 as a fee for registering the sale of homes worth £50,000 and under.

This is an increase of £10 from before.

Charges for more expensive properties have also been raised, with £1 million-plus homes now carrying a £920 fee.

"Due to the downturn in the property market and the deterioration in the economy generally, our intakes of work fell heavily in 2008 and 2009 leading to an unsustainable reduction in our fee income," the Land Registry said.

"As a government agency with trading fund status we need to cover our operating costs and return on capital employed from our fee income."

News of the fee increase comes as mortgage lender Halifax said that house prices fell again in June.

According to the lender, the continuing effects of the credit crunch and recession sent the price of the typical home down another 0.5 per cent over the month, leaving prices 15 per cent down on the year.

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Young Family Finances,

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