ID1/ID5 and ID2/ID5 Form Verification by Video Call

What is an ID1 form?

Form ID1 is HM Land Registry's certificate of identity for a private individual. It exists to stop property fraud: before Land Registry changes who owns a property, or registers a mortgage against it, it wants to know that the people involved are who they say they are. When a conveyancer acts for you, they confirm your identity themselves. When nobody does, form ID1 is how you prove it.

You complete section A yourself: your name, date of birth, address history, contact details and the property the application is about, signed and dated by hand. The rest is for whoever verifies your identity, and which part depends on how they do it: section B if they meet you in person, section C if they use Land Registry's digital identity standard, or a separate form, form ID5, if they do it by video call. Our check is by video call, so you leave sections B and C blank and the two forms go in together as ID1/ID5.

Who needs to complete form ID1?

Land Registry asks for an ID1 from anyone who is not a conveyancer, a UK bank or a building society and who lodges one of these applications, or who is a party to one without a conveyancer acting for them:

• a transfer, whether or not money changes hands, including a transfer of equity
• a charge (mortgage) that is being registered
• a lease that is being registered, or the surrender of one
• the discharge of a mortgage on form DS1, or a release on form DS3
• a transfer or deed appointing or retiring trustees
• a compulsory first registration, or a voluntary first registration where the title deeds have been lost or destroyed
• a change of name confirmed by deed poll, statutory declaration or statement of truth

Every person needs their own form, so two joint owners transferring a property need two ID1s. That includes an attorney signing for someone else, and anyone lodging the application on another person's behalf. No form is needed for a lease or charge that is only being noted, or where the true value of the land is £6,000 or less, when Land Registry will take a certificate of value from someone qualified to give one instead.

ID1/ID5 verification online: how form ID5 works

Land Registry accepts identity checked over a live video call by a conveyancer, such as a solicitor. The professions who verify on form ID3 instead, such as doctors and accountants, lost the ability to do it by video on 5 February 2024 and can now only do it in person. When the check is done by video, the verifier does not complete section B or C of your ID1. They complete form ID5 instead, certifying that they met you by video call, were given evidence of your identity and took a colour screenshot of you during the call. They also undertake to keep a record of you, a copy of your ID and a copy of the screenshot.

That screenshot takes the place of the passport photograph an in-person ID1 needs, so there is no photo booth to visit and nowhere to travel to. It must show only the person being verified, so if two of you share a call, each of you is in shot alone for your own screenshot. Form ID5, with a colour print of the screenshot, then goes with your ID1 when your application is sent to Land Registry.

Your check is carried out by Sarah Allen, a solicitor with a current practising certificate, which form ID5 requires. Land Registry contacts verifiers to check that a form completed in their name is genuine, so the solicitor whose name is on your ID5 is the one you meet on the call.

ID2/ID5: verifying identity for a company

Form ID2 is the certificate of identity for a body corporate, such as a company, that is a party to one of the applications above without a conveyancer. It works the same way, as ID2/ID5. The person representing the company completes section A, including the company's registered number and registered address, their connection with the company and a work telephone number, which the form says must be a landline and not a mobile. Their identity is then verified by video with form ID5, so it is their ID we check and their screenshot we take.

We also have to be satisfied about the organisation itself, so have these ready and send them to us with your section A:

• A UK company: an original company search, dated within the last three months, confirming the company has not been dissolved, and evidence of your authority to represent it
• Another UK corporate body: evidence that it still exists, and of your authority to represent it on this application
• An overseas company or corporate body: evidence that it is the same body as the registered owner, and of your authority to represent it, for example a letter from a lawyer in the country where it was formed

If you are not a director or the company secretary, we need a document confirming your authority to act. Choose ID2/ID5 when you book and tell us the company's name.

What ID do I need?

Form ID5 requires us to inspect and keep a copy of your ID, so you send us a clear colour copy before the call and have the original with you to show on camera. Land Registry's list is short. One of these:

• a current, valid full passport, from any country
• a current UK, EU, Isle of Man or Channel Islands photocard driving licence (not a provisional licence)
• a current biometric residence permit issued by the UK Home Office to a non-UK national living in the UK

If you have none of those, two documents from a second list will do, no more than one of each kind: a UK credit or debit card with a statement less than three months old, a utility bill less than three months old, a council tax bill for the current year, a council rent book showing the last three months' rent, a mortgage statement for the mortgage year just ended, or a current firearm or shotgun certificate. The card statement, utility bill and mortgage statement must have been sent by post, not electronically. Tell us when you book if you will be using these.

How it works

1. Book a time online and pay £69 per person. Times are every 15 minutes, from as soon as two hours ahead when the diary is free.
2. Complete section A of form ID1 (or form ID2 for a company), one form per person. Fill in every panel that applies, typed or in black ink and block capitals, then sign and date it by hand. Leave sections B and C blank.
3. Send us your copies before the call, by replying to your confirmation email: a clear colour copy of your ID and of your signed section A. Form ID5 records your address, the property and the type of application as well as the ID we inspected, so we need them to complete it.
4. Join the video call at your time, with your original ID to hand. You show it to the camera, we check it against you and take a colour screenshot of you. Each person is seen for 15 minutes.
5. We complete form ID5 for each person and sign it by hand, because Land Registry does not accept electronic signatures on ID forms, and post it to you with a colour print of the screenshot.
6. Send the forms in together. Your ID1 or ID2, form ID5 and the screenshot print go with your application to Land Registry, or to the conveyancer who is lodging it.

All of these forms must be dated and signed no more than three months before the application is lodged with Land Registry, so book your check when your application is nearly ready rather than months ahead.

How much does ID1/ID5 verification cost?

£69 per person, fixed, for ID1/ID5 or ID2/ID5. That covers the video call, the identity check, form ID5 signed by a solicitor and the screenshot. Two people on the same application book together and pay £69 each, and are seen back to back. The fee covers verifying your identity: we do not advise on the transaction or lodge the application for you.