Privatising The Land Registry

[Bear Goggles]

Apologies if already posted but I couldn't see a thread about this.

The government is apparently privatising the land registry. Does anyone have any views on this?

My initial thoughts are that if the LR is a monopoly with no realistic competition, and a vital service that cannot be allowed to fail, then this privatisation is not creating a business or a market place, and is therefore basically just another act of pseudo-capitalist cronyism.

Or am I missing something?

[frederico]

It'll cost more to move house..

[catdog1121]

Wait a second its probably one of about the only government departments that actually makes more than it spends and they want to get rid of it?

Maybe my logic is somewhat off here but that seems a tad silly.

[interestrateripoff]

If there's a profit it should be given to the private sector. It's not like the government needs all the money it can get.

[janch]

Actually I approve. Any bit of government which can stand on its own 2 feet without government subsidy should be sold off so that government only concerns itself with things which can never exist as profit making. There is far too much government so anything which is a viable concern should be let go into the private sector.

"It'll cost more to move house.." Unfortunately that will be the inevitable outcome of such a move though as it will be an opportuity to raise fees

[stormymonday_2011]

Actually I approve. Any bit of government which can stand on its own 2 feet without government subsidy should be sold off so that government only concerns itself with things which can never exist as profit making. There is far too much government so anything which is a viable concern should be let go into the private sector.

"It'll cost more to move house.." Unfortunately that will be the inevitable outcome of such a move though as it will be an opportuity to raise fees

HMRC must be ripe for privatization then since it makes a cool half trillion pound profit each year.

Unfortunately, there will be no takers for the DWP.

[Bear Goggles]

Actually I approve. Any bit of government which can stand on its own 2 feet without government subsidy should be sold off so that government only concerns itself with things which can never exist as profit making. There is far too much government so anything which is a viable concern should be let go into the private sector.

"It'll cost more to move house.." Unfortunately that will be the inevitable outcome of such a move though as it will be an opportuity to raise fees

Er... But the government created it in the first place. By that logic we should just scrap it altogether, or as another poster has said, privatise HMRC.

[macca]

It's making a profit for the taxpayer, so by the Tories twisted logic that must mean its a great idea to privatize it.

[sPinwheel]

Can't wait to see how efficient it becomes.

[@contradevian]

The rentierisation / toll booth economy continues apace.

From cradle to grave rent seeking.

Also sneaked the rentierisation of education through academies.

All public land to be sold, (Infrastructure Bill).

Thatcherism Biggest CON ever perpetuated on the British public. No market liberalisation at all. Returned us all to 14th century serfdom

[Digsby]

I thought we had successfully fought against this and won. If not, we should.

It's incredibly important that the free information available on previous sales of a house remains free. If that becomes a secret - and there are campaigners for this, those who don't like the fact that buyers know how much they paid for the property they are selling, presumably preventing them from whacking another 20% on top of the 50% they've already added since 18 months ago - then we are truly shagged.

[BorrowToLeech]

The whole purpose of privitisation is competition.

A private monopoly is worse than a public monopoly. Not only don't you get an alternative, you don't even get a vote. Democracy is the issue here, not economics.

If you think private monopolies are somehow 'less interfering', or different in any way, from the state, I suggest you move to Saudi Arabia where everything is a private monopoly owned by the Royal family.

[janch]

I thought we had successfully fought against this and won. If not, we should.

It's incredibly important that the free information available on previous sales of a house remains free. If that becomes a secret - and there are campaigners for this, those who don't like the fact that buyers know how much they paid for the property they are selling, presumably preventing them from whacking another 20% on top of the 50% they've already added since 18 months ago - then we are truly shagged.

Agree 100% information on sale prices should be open to all.

This doesn't depend on the quango being state/privately run and would be a condition of the privatisation

[A.steve]

Hmmm - I guess it all depends upon the details.

I'd like to see a situation where the land registry could be relied upon to accurately record every real-estate transaction (in real time) and record ownership of all real-estate (or, at the very least, all real-estate against which debts are secured.)

My biggest complaint about the land registry is that it can't confidently claim that it tracks everything it should - and admits that significant delays are common. I am aware, for example, that - in an area I watch - there are far more 'sold' signs than land-registry transaction records.

Perhaps a reformed land registry could provide a complete picture of the debts secured against real-estate - providing an opportunity to audit financial risks independently of the banks and their regulators?

[TheCountOfNowhere]

Something wrong with the UK

[BorrowToLeech]

Privately run competing land registries is, in my opinion, what a free-market for land would look like.

A privately run monopoly land-registry is what corruption looks like.

[Digsby]

I'm willing to keep track of progress on this on behalf of the community to ensure any deal does not get done under the radar and we all remain informed of the details of the proposed deal so that lobbying action can take place if necessary.

[the real iguana]

The Land Registry holds a nearly comprehensive record of the title history of all registered land, a huge archive of land ownership and transfers. For us plebs this means that information will be freely available, at a cost, to any marketing or snooping organisation. Interestingly it does not hold details of unregistered land, such as estates that have not changed hands since 1956 or so, eg. ageing estates in perpetuity so non-plebs can sleep easily knowing that details of holdings are still obscure and not up for sale.

[PopGun]

The rentierisation / toll booth economy continues apace.

From cradle to grave rent seeking.

Also sneaked the rentierisation of education through academies.

All public land to be sold, (Infrastructure Bill).

Thatcherism Biggest CON ever perpetuated on the British public. No market liberalisation at all. Returned us all to 14th century serfdom

It's theft pure and simple. The backlash will be a massive knee jerk shift to the left.