HM Land Registry’s new digital service ‘Sign your mortgage deed’ is now building momentum as the 1,000th digital mortgage deed was registered last week.

Coventry Building Society, which registered the very first digital mortgage, is leading the way with 37 per cent of all digital mortgages registered, followed by closely by HSBC at 25 per cent which signed nearly 200 digital mortgages in September alone.

In terms of conveyancers more than half of digital mortgages were delivered via Enact making it the leading conveyancer using the new service.

The service was launched by HM Land Registry to reduce paperwork and delays when applying for a remortgage.

Some customers have been able to complete the remortgage process in three days, 18 days less than average for a paper transaction.

Peter Frost, chief operating officer at Coventry Building Society, said: “We’re delighted that this industry leading initiative to speed up property transactions has reached such a fantastic milestone. Feedback from remortgagors has been very positive, with customers finding the process simple, quick and secure. We’re proud to have worked with HM Land Registry and Enact Conveyancing on this initiative and are excited about the potential for it to be extended to purchases in the future.”

As well as speeding up the remortgaging process, the way the service has been designed makes it more convenient for homeowners. The only information needed is an email address, a mobile phone number and the borrower’s date of birth.

Because the whole process is completed online, it can be done at any time of the day and anywhere with an internet connection, meaning the service isn’t delayed by people waiting until they get home, needing to buy stamps, or making the last post.

The service is currently available for people remortgaging their houses, with the Land Registry planning on expanding the service to all home owners in the future.

How digitally signing your mortgage deed works

• Lender creates a digital mortgage deed template with the Land Registry.
• Conveyancer uses the template to create the deed and sends link to borrower.
• To sign their deed, the borrower uses GOV.UK Verify to confirm their identity. This provides an additional level of identity assurance that does not exist when signing a paper deed. The digital deed is also more secure than a paper deed as it is always held on HM Land Registry’s IT infrastructure so cannot be lost or tampered with.
• After verifying their ID they are logged into the Land Registry service and can check the mortgage deed.
• Once happy they request a code to ‘sign’ their deed.
• The code is automatically sent to the mobile phone number they give to their conveyancers.
• Once they input the code, the mortgage deed has been signed.