Mortgage lender Nationwide, as part of its commitment to accelerating home purchases, has enabled mortgage deeds to be signed digitally without a witness, provided the conveyancer or solicitor has access to qualified electronic signature (QES) technology.
Nationwide states this has been possible through collaboration between the Land Registry, Your Conveyancer, and technology provider Vaycoc. The electronic signature service is only available in England and Wales.
Henry Jordan, group director of mortgages at Nationwide, said:
“Nationwide is committed to speeding up the home-buying process and reducing the stress and inconvenience that can come with buying a home.”
The deputy director of the Land Registry, Andy Roddy, expressed hope that other lenders would follow Nationwide’s lead in adopting electronic signature technology to simplify property transactions.
Signing mortgage deeds remains one of the few paper-based parts of the home-buying process. Moving to electronic signatures should reduce delays and provide greater certainty. This technology requires strong identity verification and maintains an audit trail, making the process highly secure.
Mary-Lou Press, president of NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) Propertymark, said that it is welcome news that technology will allow mortgage deeds to be signed digitally.
Housing transactions can be lengthy, with around 30% taking over 17 weeks. Both buyers and sellers are likely to welcome any efforts to shorten these delays.
For buyers who have signed their mortgage deed, Merseyside Movers & Storers is a premier Liverpool removal company that’ll take care of moving everything to the new home.
