Fast Conveyancing UK: How E-Signatures and Online ID Checks Speed Up Property Transactions

HM Land Registry began accepting electronic signatures on transfer deeds (the TR1, TP1, AP1 and similar) under the Mercury principles in 2020, and fully digital signed deeds since 2021. The Mercury approach requires a witnessed wet signature on a single page that is then combined electronically with the main deed. Fully digital signatures (with no wet ink at any stage) are accepted via approved providers such as Adobe Sign and DocuSign, provided the witnessing protocol is met.

For buyers and sellers, this means no more printing, signing, scanning, and posting documents back. The whole signature process can happen on a phone in ten minutes.

Identity and anti money laundering checks were historically done by visiting your solicitor with a passport and a utility bill, or by getting documents certified by a regulated professional. Today, all major UK conveyancing firms accept government endorsed digital identity verification through providers including Credas, Yoti, OneID, and Onfido. The process uses live document scanning and biometric face matching to confirm identity in around ten minutes, with the result accepted by both the regulator (SRA or CLC) and HM Land Registry.

The Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF), introduced by the government in 2022 and expanded across 2025, sets the standard for what counts as a legitimate digital identity check. Any DIATF certified provider can be used and the check is reusable across multiple parties in the transaction.

Stamp Duty Land Tax returns have been filed digitally with HMRC since 2018, but the SDLT5 certificate (the proof of filing required by Land Registry) is now also issued digitally and accepted electronically. The whole post completion administration that used to take days now takes minutes.

Around eighty five percent of English councils now operate digital land charge registers, with most others on track to migrate by the end of 2026. Where the digital register is available, the local authority search result comes back in five to seven working days, compared to fifteen to twenty working days for paper based councils. The biggest beneficiaries are properties in London and the South East, where almost every council is now digital.

Land Registry has committed to fully digital registration by 2028, with electronic filing of transfers, mortgages, and discharges all happening through a single digital portal. The current registration backlog (which has frustrated many transactions in the past five years) is being actively reduced by hiring and process improvements, with standard applications now processed in four to twelve weeks rather than the six to twelve months seen at the peak of the backlog in 2022.

A modern conveyancing transaction using these digital tools typically completes two to three weeks faster than a paper based equivalent. Specifically:

• ●ID checks: ten minutes via Credas, replacing one week of paper based verification
• ●Document signing: same day electronic, replacing three to five days of postage
• ●Local authority searches: seven working days for digital councils, replacing fifteen to twenty days
• ●Post completion: hours rather than days

Combined, a digitally enabled case can complete in eight to ten weeks rather than the traditional twelve to fourteen.

A modern conveyancing firm should offer:

• ●Electronic signature for the contract, TR1, mortgage deed, and ancillary documents
• ●DIATF certified identity verification
• ●A client portal with case status, document upload, and message thread
• ●Digital invoicing and payment of disbursements
• ●Digital SDLT filing and Land Registry application

If a firm asks you to print, sign, and post documents in 2026, ask why. There are valid exceptions (very high value transactions, complex commercial elements, certain probate matters), but for a standard residential purchase, paper should be the exception not the rule.

Every panel firm we work with is fully digital across all the workflows above. Our client portal pulls together case status, documents, and messages in one place, accessible to the customer, the firm, the estate agent, and our admin team. The result is consistently faster transactions with less friction at every step.