Selling off the Land Registry could lead to an increase in house prices as a private monopoly hoards information on property salesLike an embarrassed child trying to veil a broken lamp behind a curtain,Sajid Javid last Thursday, hours before the Easter break, and sneaked out the news that the government wants to privatise the Land Registry. Perhaps he hoped nobody would notice.
In vain. The growing number of people who rely on open government data to escape businesses and understand what is happening to the country weren’t fooled at all. Selling the Land Registry is silly dogma that risks creating a private monopoly over what should be publicly available data. It would mean squandering long-term income for short-term gain; putting vital information beyond reach of the Freedom of Information Act; and creating a future where we can’t find out how our country is owned without stumping up fees of unknown size.
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Source: theguardian.com