Conveyancing Alliance has lambasted the Land Registry for its fee increases for both its substantive applications and its information services.

A new Land Registration Fee Order came into force last week which will mean an increase for all Land Registry fees.

A Scale 1 fee for a property of £250k has increased by £60 from £220 to £280, while a Scale 2 fee for a property of the same amount has increased by £20 from £70 to £90.

Information Services for inspection, official copy and official search have all been increased often by a third, while there will now be a fee payable for all searches of the index map (including those which do not reveal a title number).

Conveyancing Alliance argues both the timing and the actual increase of many fees cannot be justified at a time when the property market is in the doldrums and many home purchasers are having to dig even deeper to buy their homes.

Harpal Singh, managing director of Conveyancing Alliance, said: “This is just what the market doesn’t need at this time. We appreciate that fixed fees for substantive applications haven’t been increased since 1993 and fees for information services have not been increased since 2006. However