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16 January 2026 / Phil Murrin
Issue: 8145 / Categories: Features , Profession , Risk management , Property , Landlord&tenant
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Mind the (registration) gap!

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The land registration gap leads to delays & claims, writes Phil Murrin. How can practitioners minimise the risks?
  • The Land Registry’s latest strategy paper recognises that processes are slow and complex, but there is no quick cure.
  • Against this background, practitioners are seeing claims involving registration gap problems.
  • This article advises how firms can understand the extent of their registration gap profile, and address that potential exposure accordingly.

On 5 November 2025, HM Land Registry issued its Strategy 2025+ report, setting out its vision for the next 10 years. This was issued in the context of the troubling expansion we have seen in recent years in relation to the registration gap—the time between the application to register and the registration itself. With reports (including a Homemove study in March 2025) indicating that in complex cases, parties are seeing a delay of up to two years, the release of the report is timely.

However, the report recognises that for many, processes are ‘slow and unnecessarily complex’. It also

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Taylor Rose—Jessica Draganescu & Emily Hewlett

Taylor Rose—Jessica Draganescu & Emily Hewlett

Firm strengthens growth strategy and group litigation capability with senior hires

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Farrer & Co—Richard Lane

Londstanding London firm appoints new senior partner

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Bird & Bird—Sue McLean

Commercial team in London welcomes technology specialist as partner

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Bereavement leave is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Writing in NLJ this week, Robert Hargreaves of York St John University explains how the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a day-one right to leave for a wider range of losses, alongside new provisions for pregnancy loss and bereaved partners
Courts are beginning to grapple with whether AI-generated material is legally privileged—and the answers are mixed. In this week's issue of NLJ, Stacie Bourton, Tom Whittaker & Beata Kolodziej of Burges Salmon examine US rulings showing how easily privilege can be lost
New guidance seeks to bring order to the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Minesh Tanna and David Bridge of Simmons & Simmons set out a framework stressing ‘transparency’, ‘explainability’ and ‘reliability’
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