UK’s HM Land Registry Initiates Second Phase of Blockchain Research Project

By Ravindra Chagetha

The blockchain technology continues to expand as the new research stretches to find more ways to implement the technology for the development in various sectors. The U.K.’s national land registry is moving into the second phase of its ongoing blockchain effort.

The HM Land Registry joined hands with blockchain company Methods as announced on Tuesday by HM. Method is planning to build on R3’s Corda framework to develop a platform able to store land registration information and streamline the process for buying or selling properties.

The Chief Executive of HM Land Registry, Graham Farrant said:

Our ambition to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, ease of use and an open approach to data requires HM Land Registry to be at the forefront of global innovation in land registration. By working with Methods on Digital Street we are taking another step toward that goal, as we explore how new technologies like blockchain can help us to develop a faster, simpler and cheaper land registration process.

HM Land Registry research began last year when it first announced the project. Also for its desire to streamline the buy-sell process, the agency said it hoped to store more “granular information” using a blockchain platform.

R3 CEO David Rutter said the company “looks forward to working with the world’s most well-recognised land registry.” He agreed to the technology’s potential to make the transaction more efficient.

David Rutter further commented:

We are pleased to see another innovative deployment of Corda in the public sector and look forward to working with the world’s most well-recognised land registry, HM Land Registry. Blockchain holds the potential to transform land registry services by improving speed, simplicity and efficiency. We will be working closely with HM Land Registry, Methods and our partners over the coming months to turn this potential into reality.

The CEO of Methods also commented that Corda is the excellent fit according to the requirements of HM Land Registry as it offers relevant features such as security, privacy, interoperability and the smart contract flow framework.