spread to the whole of its jurisdiction, compulsion only occurred when a property was sold. This was a barrier to the registration of the whole of England and Wales, and in 1998 new triggers for registration were introduced, dramatically increasing the rate of registration of land. These triggers included gifts of land, assent of land on death and raising monies by mortgages on the land. The Land Registration Act 2002 leaves the system substantially in place, but enables the future compulsory introduction of electronic conveyancing, using electronic signatures to transfer and register property. As a result of that act, Land and Charge Certificates are no longer issued. The new home of the Information Systems department, a state-of-the-art office with 500 staff, was opened in 2005 in Plymouth's International Business Park. Chief Land Registrars Brent Spencer Follett (1862–1886) Robert Hallet Holt (1886–1900) Sir Charles Fortescue Brickdale (1900–1923) Sir John Stewart Stewart-Wallace (1923–1941) Rouxville Mark Lowe (1941–1947) Sir George Harold Curtis (1947–1963) Theodore Burton Fox Ruoff (1963–1974) Robert Burnell Roper (1974–1983) Eric John Pryer (1983–1990) John Manthorpe (1990–1996) Stuart John Hill (1996–1999) Peter Collis (1999–2010) Marco Pierleoni (2010–2011) Malcolm Dawson (2011–2013) Ed Lester (2013–2015) Graham Farrant (2015–2018) Mike Harlow (Acting) (2018–2019) Simon Hayes (2019–) Privatisation plans On 23 January 2014, the Government issued a public consultation on its proposal to create a service delivery company to carry out the day-to-day process of land registration. This might be either a wholly Government-owned company or privately owned, and was to be subject to regulation from the Office of the Chief Land Registrar, which would remain part of Government. This proposal generated considerable controversy in the media and was opposed by Land Registry staff. There was also opposition to the plans from legal professionals and other users of Land Registry services. In July 2014, the Government announced that, having considered the results of the consultation, whilst it continued to consider that there were considerable benefits to a service delivery company, it felt that further consideration was necessary and therefore would not be proceeding with any changes. In November 2015, it was reported that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was reconsidering privatising the agency and an article in PoliticsHome noted that all potential bidders were linked to tax havens. The privatization plans have faced fierce opposition from the industry in 2016. The Conveyancing Association has argued that a ‘reversal of the recent halving of fees’ could