Update Request

Hello, I wondered whether it might be possible to please provide an update regarding my application which I submitted for first registration and was approved to be expedited just over a week ago. I know HMLR advises that expedited applications can take up to 10 working days to get to the starting line and then it all hinges on the application being in order, plus we've also had a bank holiday in the mix, so please accept my apologies for sounding premature. I feel forced to ask because there is presently an ongoing legal issue concerning an easement affecting the land and I am under increasing pressure to provide an update regarding the registration process because the other party seems to think that despite the cited 10 working days timeline, processing usually begins much sooner than that. I hoped that if there might have been any movement on the application then I could relay that information to the other party to help defuse the current situation. If it were up to me I would just wait it out but the other party is demanding an update that I can't provide without asking you, so I would be very grateful for any details you are able to give.

Hello Jay - your understanding is quite correct and the other party is right too with regards processing often starting much sooner than the 10 days quoted before the 'race' begins proper. Expedition was approved on the 20th May and processing has not as yet started. That should happen in the next few working days and the case will then be referred to a senior technician to consider. In my experience re this type of application there is still some time to travel before fully processed

Good afternoon Adam, could I please ask if the 'race' has begun yet?

Good Afternoon Jay - not as yet

Good afternoon Nimish, I'd be grateful for an update on the current status of the application please, as the 10 working day deadline for expedited applications to begin processing has now comfortably passed.

Good afternoon Jay - the application requires a survey. We have written to the applicants to arrange the for survey to be done by Ordnance Survey.

Good afternoon, another week has ticked by and I still haven’t received any letter about the Ordnance Survey inspection or how it is to be arranged. I’m not sure when it was sent your end but there seems to be a recurring issue with HMLR post not reaching me, as an earlier SIMR certificate had to be re-sent twice before it eventually arrived (and by the time it did arrive, it was too late to serve any practical purpose). I appreciate the non-delivery is likely a Royal Mail issue that is out of your control, but it is nevertheless preventing progress with the application, which is urgent and has already been expedited. As citizen customers cannot access the portal, is there any possibility of please sending the correspondence by e-mail to the address given in the application form instead?

Good Afternoon Jay - the letter was issued by email as well. Have you checked your spam/junk folder as your security settings may have diverted it? The email quoted on the application form submitted differes from the one being used on this forum

Good afternoon Adam, many thanks for your quick response. I check my spam folder daily - just the usual scams and suchlike, definitely nothing from HMLR in either address (the one used on the form is my 'primary' address, the one for this forum is my 'secondary' address that I use for forums and suchlike). It feels like someone somewhere doesn't want me to receive your correspondence!

Good Afternoon Jay W - I'll reissue the letter using the contact email from the form FR1. If you don't receive through the ether in the next few hours let me know. I don't know how long the ether takes but am aware some services aren't quite as 'instant' as we might hope

Just received your e-mail - many thanks

Oops, double post

Good morning, tomorrow is the 20 working day deadline for the OS survey relating to EA91E38 referred to in the letter I received. As far as I am aware, the survey has not yet taken place and I have not heard anything further from OS since submitting the site survey webform (OS ref. HMLR-EN 0781 5635 1826). The letter states that the application may not proceed and could be cancelled if the survey is not completed. According to the OS chatbot, HMLR is not notified when the application site survey webform is submitted, but instead only receives the surveyor's report once the survey has been completed, so it might look like I have not responded to the letter. Could you please confirm that the application will not be cancelled given that I submitted the webform within the required timescale? By the way, as a separate point, the letter I received states that any additional information should be sent to the Citizen Centre address in Gloucester as it used to be, rather than Bilston. I'm just flagging this in case the letter template needs updating.

Good Morning Jay - the application won't be cancelled. The OS process for you is a very separate one from ourselves so you'll need to chase them up with regards what's happening Noted re template wording and will flag with colleagues - many thanks

Good afternoon, many thanks for your reply and reassurance that the application won't be cancelled. If you don't mind, I have a few follow up queries. Firstly, I posted some additional correspondence and documentary evidence yesterday relating to this application. A short time ago I received an automated e-mail from HMLR confirming its receipt, but it has been allocated as a new application with reference D431HLV, rather than being associated with the existing EA91E38 application, with a new estimated completion date of 10 December 2026. Could you please confirm that the additional evidence will be linked to EA91E38 so that the caseworker dealing with that application will see it, and that D431HLV will be considered alongside EA91E38 as part of the first registration process, rather than as a separate event later? Also, as EA91E38 has been expedited, does it follow that D431HLV will also be expedited, or will I need to submit a separate request for that? I suspect D431HLV is the HMLR reference for the amalgamation request that I forgot to ask for at the time I submitted EA91E38, but the additional documentary evidence sent in at the same time is for the substantive application in EA91E38. Secondly, I wondered whether it is possible to say what the OS survey is intended to establish in relation to this particular application. I am not asking why OS surveys are used in general, but what particular issue the caseworker considered the survey would assist with in this specific case. I ask because I also had an application registered last year on the same basis with substantially less evidence which did not require a survey, so I was curious why this application needs one, as it is not based on adverse possession. Thanks!

Good Afternoon Jay - they are all linked and no further request to expedite is needed. A survey is needed as there are no deeds available having been destroyed. We need OS to act as our eyes in such cases

Good afternoon Adam, many thanks for the confirmation of linkage and that no further expedition is needed. Understood regarding the survey, although the latest documentary evidence filed today does include a copy of the executed deeds (the originals having been destroyed as you rightly say). Might that change anything regarding the need for a survey and will the new documentary evidence potentially be reviewed prior to the survey taking place or will it be only considered by a caseworker after the survey is carried out? Had a response from OS, by the way, who said 'Unfortunately, it appears there has been an administrative error, which meant that the form you completed was not entered into our system'. Argh!

Good Afternoon Jay - it won't change the need for a survey

Thanks Adam, that's a shame considering the urgency of the application, but understandable as I know procedures have to be followed and corners must never be cut. But do you know if the new documentary evidence is likely to be reviewed prior to the survey taking place or will it sit on file only for consideration by a caseworker after the survey is carried out? I really appreciate the time you take to answer all these probably tedious questions, so thank you.

Jay - in my experience the case will reviewed as a whole once the OS report is in.