The following article was published in the 'The Negotiator' Magazine on October 20th, one of the major trade publications for the property conveyancing industry.  See the full article here.

Property logbooks for every home in the UK took a giant step towards reality yesterday following the inaugural meeting of the Residential Logbook Association (RLBA), attended by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government representative Matt Prior.

The aim is that every residential property transaction will be supported by one whether sales or lettings, with a trial scheduled for March or April next year.

The MHCLG is backing the initiative as it believes property logbooks lie at the heart of making house buying and renting quicker by removing many of the friction points that trip up transactions.

Prior was joined by the four founders of the association who are the key suppliers involved, who then set out what a logbook will look like for agents and home movers.

It was also agreed that only one per property would be created for each interest in the property. This will enable the logbooks to accommodate multiple leasehold interests and different ownership structures.

The digital logbooks will also transfer from owner to owner in the same way Title Deeds do, and be accessible regardless which supplier created it.

The key information to be included will include:

• Unique Property Reference Number
• Title number
• History of transactions including sales and rentals
• A lettings MOT certificate (if relevant)
• Ground rent info (if leasehold)
• Up-to-date search and other local authority information.
• Land Registry information
• Utility company data.
• Government information such as flooding risk.
• Handover packs.
• Building or retrofit works completed.

In a block of flats all the players involved would exchange information to go into the logbook including freeholder, head leaseholder, leaseholders and even tenants.

Up for future discussion includes who can see logbook and when, and whether they should record who has been access to it.

The RLBA founders are Nigel Walley (Chimni), chairman, Tim Main (Pip), Simon Lumb (National Deeds Depository) and David Graydon (Spaciable).