Digital deeds to cut home-buying paperwork

♦ A new dawn of “digital mortgages” begins today as the Land Registry moves the process online to save time and hassle for millions of home owners.

The first mortgage deed not to have been signed with a pen and paper has been accepted today as part of a trial with Coventry Building Society, the Land Registry announced.

A new online verification service which phases out the need for signatures, witnesses and posting pieces of paper will be rolled out nationally within two months, it said.

To digitally sign their mortgage deeds home owners must instead enter their personal information into a Gov.uk verification portal to prove their identity.

Initially the digital system will only be available for remortgage customers, meaning first-time buyers and other customers taking out a new mortgage will still need to use pen and paper for the foreseeable future.

Graham Farrant, the Land Registry chief executive and chief land registrar, said: “By working with partners in the industry, we have secured a simpler and faster service for ... home owners. We are looking forward to rolling this out nationally and will be working with more conveyancers and lenders to do so.”

It comes as Barclays has become the first major lender to offer “green mortgages” with lower interest rates for people who buy an energy-efficient new-build home. Its Green Home Mortgage will be available to those buying an A or B EPC (energy performance certificate) rated home from an initial group of five house builders, saving up to £750 on a mortgage of £150,000 over a five-year fixed-rate term.