Land Registry drops online service

The Land Registry has bowed to consumer concern and withdrawn access to sensitive documents such as mortgage deeds and leases from its website.

A decision was made after the Government department admitted it was investigating an allegation that someone had used its website to commit fraud, despite there being "no concrete evidence" to support this.

But in light of the investigation and negative publicity surrounding the decision to let people pay £3 to download a copy of documents, such as mortgage deeds and leases, the plug has been pulled on the online service.

"The decision is not a knee-jerk reaction; it is something we have been looking into for a while in response to customers concerns following publicity of the possible ID theft. We are also concerned that the increased publicity could encourage people to commit these crimes," said a Land Registry representative.

Richard Clayton, security researcher at Cambridge University, agreed the documents available online would not have been of much use to most fraudsters, even though some forms contained images of people's signatures.

Mike Westcott-Rudd, head of corporate legal services at the Land Registry, said while fraud was a serious issue, the service had been implemented to make the system more accessible for consumers.

"While there is always a risk of fraud, we need to put this risk in context - of £870m fee income in 2005-06 and 2006-07, just under £12m was paid out in compensation for fraud or forgery claims," he said.

However, from midnight tonight, Monday 5 November 2007, consumers will no longer have online access to Land Registry documents. Anyone wishing to inspect or have copies of any such documents will have to apply in writing.

Professionals such as lawyers will be able to continue to use the online service as long as they sign up and fill out company details.