The Land Registry has announced that Land Registry Direct (LRD) and National Land Information Service (NLIS) customers can now request electronic official copies of Land Registry registers of title and title plans and also caution registers and plans, where the Land Registry holds the original in electronic format.

Future enhancements will also provide for electronic Land Registry official copies of documents and the electronic delivery of official search certificates and land charges official search certificates.

The official copy will be issued in the form of a PDF file.

The Land Registry considers that a print from the PDF file will be an official copy, provided it has not been modified or corrupted since receipt.

If the PDF file is forwarded, it will, provided it has not been modified or corrupted, constitute an official copy and a print from it will be an official copy.

Solicitors who need to satisfy themselves that a document is an official copy should look for two considerations - its look and where it came from.

Does it look like an official copy and are there any obvious discrepancies, such as no watermark or in the form and order of the information? Did the document purport to come from LRD or NLIS or from a person whose standing is such as to make it likely to be an official copy?

The Land Registry's Web site, www.landregistry.gov.uk, contains further details and information.