New leasehold information form aims to simplify the selling process

The Home Buying and Selling Group (HBSG) has announced a new update to the Leasehold Property Enquiries (LPE1) form, which it hopes will help unlock the potential of digital conveyancing.

Using the Property Data Trust Framework standards devised by the group, the latest update allows answers to LPE1 enquires to be represented in a standard way so key enquiries made of the managing agents of leasehold properties can be captured and shared in a way understandable by everyone.

The new revised LPE1 form coincided with lenders changing their policies to be able to lend on properties in remediation schemes or those covered by leaseholder protections earlier in the year. 

Other bodies alongside the Conveyancing Association, such as the Society of Licenced Conveyancers as well as ARHM, BPF, The Property Institute (TPI), RTMF, RICS and Propertymark are encouraging their member firms to use the new version of the LPE1.

Having reached the public launch v1.0 milestone in December 2022, the framework continues to evolve to support more and more elements of property data to facilitate frictionless exchange of data between all stakeholders.
 

More progress is planned for the coming months, as updates to the Buying and Selling Property Information form dataset and the announcement of the National Trading Standards material upfront information parts B and C are expected.

Software firms and developers can find the schema and release notes on GitHub. 

Beth Rudolf, director of delivery at the Conveyancing Association (CA), said: “This is a further step in the ongoing journey towards full digital conveyancing and we at the CA are incredibly supportive of all the work that is going into this, particularly through the HBSG and the Property Data Trust Framework. 

“Standardisation leads not just to a greater understanding but also speeds up the process around LPE1 enquiries, which follows on from the new version of the LPE1 form that was launched at the beginning of this year. As an industry, if we continue to work collaboratively and provide answers to these questions, then we have high hopes for improving the home buying and selling process for all home movers and stakeholders.”