The number of Qualified Electronic Signatures used at HM Land Registry reached just five in the first quarter of 2026, underlining the scale of the operational changes still facing the home buying sector.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request by transformation consultancy Novus Strategy show that only two businesses have begun submitting Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) since HM Land Registry invited conveyancers and other firms to start using them in August last year.

Only one e-signature had been used by the end of 2025, with the total now rising to five during the first three months of this year.

Novus Strategy said the slow pace of adoption reflected the complexity of integrating digital processes across the property transaction chain, rather than a lack of appetite for the technology itself.

Claire Van der Zant, chief executive of Novus Strategy, said: “You can’t just flick a switch and start using QES tomorrow. QES is just one of the components that unlocks interoperability in the property transaction.

“Lenders, conveyancers and every organisation involved should be actively assessing where data and processes cause friction and break the customer journey. Only once you do that, both internally and externally, can you build the foundations that unlock solutions such as QES, and start to tackle the fall-throughs and excessive completion times that plague industry.”

Van der Zant said firms across the sector were having to navigate what she described as a “configuration conundrum” as they attempt to redesign customer journeys and integrate new digital infrastructure.

She said: “This is the configuration conundrum all firms are having to navigate. It’s less about whether the technology is fit for purpose, and much more about redesigning the customer journey to leverage new digital components, Smart Data and orchestration infrastructure.

“This is why QES was never going to be an overnight success and why we’ve always said that rising QES use will signal that much more is going on behind the scenes. This isn’t a question of willingness to adopt, it’s a symptom of ability to adapt.”

Even if the two organisations currently using QES were doing so regularly, adoption would still stand at around 0.03% of HM Land Registry customers, according to Novus. HM Land Registry did not confirm whether the two organisations were conveyancing firms, although these account for the majority of its customer base.

The consultancy said the low numbers illustrated that the mortgage and home buying market faced broader operational and interoperability challenges which could not be solved through isolated technology deployments.

Novus argued that firms needed to rethink how they connect systems, data and processes across the wider property ecosystem, while also addressing issues including trust, liability and interoperability.

The business also pointed to a limited number of digital identity providers currently offering integration with qualified e-signature solutions, which it said was another barrier to wider adoption.

Novus said these issues would require organisations to adopt what it describes as Horizontal Digital Integration (HDI), an operating framework designed to connect infrastructure, data and decision-making processes across multiple organisations involved in property transactions.

The findings follow the publication last month of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology’s Open Property roadmap, which highlighted the early-stage development of Smart Data within the property sector. Novus was involved in preparing the roadmap alongside a wider coalition of industry and public sector organisations.

Van der Zant said: “We reported earlier in the year that adoption was slow and there continue to be reasons why this is the case.

“For one, there’s still a dearth of integrated digital ID solutions, which is what conveyancers need if they’re to use QES. The important thing right now is not to get too tied up in the numbers.

“Yes, they’re still low, and yes, they’re rising slowly but this is how it starts. If we look at the uptake of Open Banking to draw parallels on the pace of adoption, the first three years yielded around 6% uptake, versus around 20% seven years from launch.

“What you’re witnessing here is the birth of a new way of executing the most complex consumer transaction on Earth, and QES is just one small part of that.”