ConsenSys > Case Studies > Proof of Concept for Her Majety’s Land Registry (HMLR) demonstrates the ability of blockchain technology to increase transparency and cut costs in real estate

Proof of Concept for Her Majety’s Land Registry (HMLR) demonstrates the ability of blockchain technology to increase transparency and cut costs in real estate

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe

Country

United Kingdom

Product

Title Token
Codefi Assets
MetaMask

Tech Stack

Blockchain
Smart Contracts
Ethereum

Implementation Scale

Pilot projects

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Digital Expertise
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Blockchain

Applicable Functions

Procurement

Use Cases

Smart Contracts
Asset Lifecycle Management

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

About The Customer

Her Majesty’s Land Registry (HMLR) is the UK government department responsible for recording ownership titles on lands and properties. It manages records for 25 million titles on lands and properties valued at over £7 trillion. HMLR is tasked with maintaining a comprehensive and up-to-date record of all registered and unregistered land in England and Wales, as well as providing reliable information on ownership and boundaries. The department plays a crucial role in the real estate sector, providing transparency and security in the property market.

The Challenge

Her Majesty’s Land Registry (HMLR), the UK government department responsible for recording 25 million ownership titles on lands and properties valued at over £7 trillion, was facing several challenges in the real estate market. The existing process was cumbersome and costly, with high minimum tickets for investment, multiple dislocated parties and expensive intermediaries required for transactions, and low levels of transparency. The secondary markets were isolated and continued to rely on manual processing. Individuals and companies seeking to participate in the real estate sector had to rely on agents to manage the owner registry, transaction, and administration. This process was inefficient and added multiple layers of cost and friction.

The Solution

HMLR partnered with ConsenSys Codefi to explore the use of blockchain and smart contract technology to aid speed, simplicity and transparency in the real estate market. They created a prototype “Title Token” representing shares of a property and issued the token on Codefi’s digital asset marketplace. The process involved 8 steps, from property owners requesting Title Tokens to regulators having access to view high-level token data. Codefi Assets enabled the easy creation and deployment of smart contracts on the Ethereum mainnet based on the ERC1400 standard. These highly configurable smart contracts and security tokens have features like support for force transfers, burns and mints by an administrator, trade restrictions through off-chain certificate generation, and partial fungibility.

Operational Impact

Blockchain technology provided secure and efficient transaction processing and a “single source of truth” between all participants, improving transparency and accuracy of information.
The investor registry remains automatically updated and maintained, reducing the need for manual processing.
The normal reams of paperwork and compliance to be submitted and reviewed for property transactions by multiple parties are alleviated by inviting potential investors to create their own accounts, fill in a KYC form and upload all necessary documents to the platform.
Digitising the investment process also provides opportunities to distribute assets more globally, since international investors can access the platform just as easily as domestic investors.