What Is an ID5 Form? HM Land Registry Video ID Explained

An ID5 form is the certificate a practising conveyancer, such as a solicitor, completes when they have verified someone’s identity for HM Land Registry by video call rather than in person. It is never used on its own: the ID5 must accompany the person’s form ID1 (for individuals) or form ID2 (for companies), together with a printed colour copy of a screenshot taken during the call.

What is the ID5 form?

HM Land Registry publishes form ID5 under the full title Certificate to be given by a conveyancer where a person’s identity has been verified by way of an online video call (ID5).

In effect, the ID5 is the conveyancer’s certificate of identity for a remote check (not to be confused with form ID3, which non-conveyancers use): they certify that they met the person by video call, were given evidence of identity and took a colour screenshot during the call.

The form also records:

• the title number or numbers of the property
• the property address or addresses
• the type of application being made
• the name and address of the person whose identity was verified

The conveyancer also undertakes to keep a record of the person, a copy of their identity evidence and a copy of the screenshot.

How video verification continued after COVID-19

Video checks began as a temporary coronavirus (COVID-19) measure, announced in HM Land Registry’s news story Changes to identity verification and signing deeds. Form ID5 was first published on 4 May 2020.

On 21 November 2022 HM Land Registry confirmed it would continue the practice. The Chief Land Registrar’s current Direction 2 on evidence of identity, in force since 5 February 2024, makes it a formal condition: where a conveyancer verifies identity by online video call, form ID5 must be completed in line with Practice Guide 67 and must accompany form ID1 or ID2.

ID1 and ID5: how the forms work together

Form ID1, now titled Verify identity: citizen (ID1), is how a private individual proves their identity when lodging an application with HM Land Registry. Its sections are split between applicant and verifier:

• Section A is completed and signed by the person being verified: personal details, addresses for the last five years, application details and a signed certificate. Each person needs their own form.
• Section B is completed by the verifier when identity is checked in person.
• Section C is completed by the verifier when identity is checked to the digital identity standard.

For a video check, the verifier must not complete section B or C. The ID1 form tells them to complete a form ID5 instead, and Practice guide 67: evidence of identity (PG67) adds that the ID5 must be kept with, and lodged with, the ID1 or ID2.

A remote check therefore produces three documents that travel together: your signed section A, the conveyancer’s signed ID5 and the printed screenshot.

Form	Who it is for	Who verifies identity	Video call possible?
ID1	Private individual	A conveyancer or other approved verifier	Yes, with form ID5
ID2	Company or other corporate body	A conveyancer or other approved verifier	Yes, with form ID5
ID3	Private individual	Someone other than a conveyancer	No, in person only
ID5	Accompanies ID1 or ID2	The conveyancer who held the call	It is the video-call certificate

Can form ID5 be used with ID2?

Yes. Verify identity: corporate body (ID2) is the equivalent form for companies, and it carries the same instruction: do not complete section B or C for a video call, and complete form ID5 instead. Our guide to what an ID2 form is covers the company side in more detail.

Why ID5 does not work with ID3

Form ID3, the Certificate of identity for a private individual (ID3), is used when someone other than a conveyancer verifies a private individual. For applications lodged on or after 6 May 2024, only in-person ID3 verifications are accepted. ID3 also requires both people to hold a full UK passport and to have known each other for at least one year.

Who can complete and sign an ID5 form

PG67 says conveyancers can verify identity by online video call, and that the option was withdrawn for non-conveyancer verifiers (who use form ID3) on 5 February 2024. HM Land Registry has also agreed that all Chartered Legal Executives and CLC-regulated Licensed Probate Practitioners can verify identity even if they are not conveyancers. The ID5 form lists who may sign it, and the certifier must hold a current practising certificate and be one of the following:

• a solicitor
• a licensed conveyancer
• a notary public
• a barrister
• a CILEX Conveyancing Practitioner
• a Chartered Legal Executive
• a Licensed Probate Practitioner regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers
• a lawyer practising outside the UK, who must also send evidence of their authority to practise

PG67 treats a conveyancer as someone authorised under the Legal Services Act 2007 to provide conveyancing services, in effect a practising certificate holder. It also notes that:

• Any conveyancer may verify identity, not only the one acting in the transaction.
• Section B or C of an ID form should not be signed by an employee of a conveyancer unless they are a conveyancer in their own right.
• Paralegals cannot verify identity.

The ID5 also has a tick-box recording whether the certifier has known the person for at least two years. HM Land Registry will contact certifiers to check that a form completed in their name is genuine.

When HM Land Registry needs evidence of identity

A party represented by a conveyancer is covered by giving that conveyancer’s details on the application. The ID forms mainly matter when someone is not represented.

HM Land Registry’s guidance on completing forms ID1 and ID2 says evidence of identity is needed for any party who is not legally represented, and for the person lodging the application if that is someone different. The transactions covered include:

• transfers
• leases
• surrenders of leases
• mortgages
• paper discharges on forms DS1 and DS3
• compulsory first registration
• voluntary first registration where the deeds are lost
• change of name by deed poll

Evidence of identity is generally not needed:

• where a lease or charge is merely being noted in the register
• for voluntary first registration, unless the deeds are lost or destroyed
• for certain office-holders, such as trustees in bankruptcy and liquidators
• where the land has a true value of £6,000 or less (a valuation certificate is supplied instead)

Where a conveyancer lodges an application and a party was not represented by any conveyancer, PG67 says the lodging conveyancer must confirm that sufficient steps have been taken to verify that person’s identity, enclose evidence of identity, or state the exemption being claimed.

HM Land Registry’s guidance on completing the evidence of identity panels on forms AP1, FR1 and DS2 lists form ID5 among the evidence that may be needed where identity was verified by online video call. For the wider picture, see how ID verification works.

What evidence of identity is checked on a video call

The ID5 form requires the conveyancer to inspect either a copy of one List A document or copies of two List B documents, with no more than one of each type.

List A (one document is enough):

• a current valid full passport
• a current photocard driving licence issued in the UK, the EU, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands (not a provisional licence)
• a current Biometric Residence Permit (still listed on the form, although GOV.UK says all BRPs have now expired and been replaced by eVisas)

List B (two different documents):

• a UK-issued credit or debit card, supported by an account 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 year just ended
• a current firearm or shotgun certificate

The form marks three List B items (the card’s supporting account statement, the utility bill and the mortgage statement) as postal statements only, not ones sent electronically.

Two points are worth noting. There is no separate proof-of-address requirement: one List A document is enough. And a bank statement alone is not a List B item; it only supports a UK-issued card. Your conveyancer may ask for more for anti-money laundering purposes, but PG67 states that its rules are separate from identity checks required by regulators or by law.

How to verify identity by video for Land Registry purposes

Based on the ID forms and PG67, the procedure is:

1. Confirm that evidence of identity is needed. Ask whoever is lodging the application.
2. Complete section A of the right form. Individuals use ID1 and companies use ID2. Leave sections B and C blank and sign by hand.
3. Arrange a video call with an eligible conveyancer. PG67 does not prescribe a particular service, provider or device, but the one used should be secure.
4. Send copies of your documents. One List A document, or two different List B documents.
5. Join the call. The conveyancer meets you by video, checks the evidence you have provided and captures a screenshot showing only you.
6. The conveyancer completes form ID5. They sign it by hand, attach a printed colour copy of the screenshot and keep their own records. The screenshot replaces the signed passport-size photograph used for in-person checks.
7. Lodge the forms together. The ID1 or ID2, ID5 and screenshot go to HM Land Registry with the application, within the time limit below.

You can see how this works with us in our step-by-step process.

ID5 form: HM Land Registry rules on validity and signing

• Three months. Under PG67, completed parts of form ID1 or ID2, and form ID5 where used, must be dated and signed no more than three months before the application is lodged.
• Re-lodged applications. Where a different conveyancer re-lodges an application and there has been no intervention in the original firm, PG67 accepts an ID1 or ID2 verified by the former or another conveyancer if it is no more than six months old when the renewed application is made. Check the current guidance on how this applies to an accompanying ID5.
• Handwritten signatures only. No ID form can be signed with any type of electronic signature.
• Originals or certified copies. Either the original or a certified copy of the latest version of an ID form may be submitted.
• Privacy. Completed forms ID1, ID2 and ID5 are not open to public inspection.

How IDVerification can help

IDVerification offers a remote identity check carried out by a practising solicitor over a short video call. You complete section A of your ID1 or ID2, share copies of your documents, and the solicitor completes and signs form ID5 in line with PG67. In most cases the work is completed within 24 hours of receiving your documents and video verification.

Our ID1 & ID5 Forms Verification costs £89 including VAT, and ID2 Forms Verification for companies costs £99 including VAT, with multiple checks available on request. See our pricing for details, or book your video ID check when your section A is ready.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Always check the latest HM Land Registry guidance or ask your conveyancer about your transaction.