To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many titles in England and Wales were stored on HM Land Registry records on the latest date for which figures are available. (275153)

On 8 May 2009 there were 22,185,077 registered titles from England and Wales stored on the Land Registry database.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the number of land registration records which contain inaccuracies. (275158)

Although there is no current estimate of records that contain inaccuracies, Land Registry runs automated systems that check against their records to identify potential inaccuracies that are then investigated on a daily basis. Land Registry has reported an accuracy rate of 98.91 per cent. in respect of its output for the year ending 31 March 2009 against a KPI of 98.5 per cent. This level of accuracy was achieved across more than four million applications directly affecting the entries on the Register of Title.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the procedure is for the alteration of a record held by the Land Registry. (275163)

Applications to alter the register of title are made using the forms and procedures prescribed by the land registration legislation. Applications must be accompanied by the appropriate documents and evidence needed to justify the alteration. Land Registry publishes a range of public and practice guides that provide guidance about the different types of application that can be made.

Land Registry requires confirmation of identity for certain types of application as detailed in Land Registry “Practice Guide 67—Evidence of Identity”.

All applications are checked by Land Registry’s staff in accordance with centrally prescribed practice guidance. If an application is not in order Land Registry may reject it on receipt or may send a written requisition for the defect to be put right. The application may be cancelled if the requisition is not complied with by a specified date.

In some cases notice of an application is sent to interested parties and time is allowed for them to agree or object to the application. Any objection which is not groundless and cannot be resolved by agreement is referred for hearing by the adjudicator to HM Land Registry and the application cannot then be completed until the dispute has been resolved.

If the application is in order, or when all requisitions and objections have been dealt with, the application is approved and the register is altered. The alteration takes effect from the time when Land Registry received the application.

The Courts and the registrar also have power to alter the register without an application being made in the circumstances described in Schedule 4 to the Land Registration Act 2002, for example to correct a mistake or to bring the register up to date.