Local Authority Property Searches

When independent companies first started to provide Personal searches not all mortgage lenders accepted them and not all solicitors were confident in their reliability. The need for a change in the way in which a property search is obtained has been long overdue. The official local authority searches were always one of the main reasons for delay with the conveyancing process as Local Authority searches often took a long time to be returned after ordering, up to twelve weeks in fact.

Access to information was not formalised and often obstructed by the local authorities. Since independent consultants and businesses have started to provide Personal searches things have improved dramatically and pressure has been applied to Local Authority departments to improve access to the data they hold. After all, they are paid to collect and hold this information on behalf of the public by the local rate payers. It is not their information they are simply custodians of the information required to collate a local search.

It has taken a while but now Personal searches have been proved to lenders and solicitors to be correct and efficient. These are; convenience of ordering, email, fax, or even good old Royal Mail. From a payment point of view, these Personal searches often offer a thirty day account unlike the local authority that requires payment with order.

Selling a house is an expensive procedure so the ability to defer the payment for a month helps immensely. Prices for personal searches are competitive with a choice of companies offering the facility and the ability to order electronically even including electronic delivery. The Department of Local Government developed the National Land Information Service, NLIS, to allow customers to place their orders electronically and receive them back as emails. All the local authorities were to subscribe to this service and create electronic data bases to transmit the searches.

As we write this it has not happened whereas the independent companies can deliver searches and Home Information Packs in which ever format is most convenient for the client. To give further comfort to users of personal searches The Property Codes Compliance Board, PCCB, was formed and good search companies are members and agree to abide by the code of practice which incorporates a complaints procedure.

Since the introduction of Hip the search industry has become more price sensitive and personal searches are the preferred option for ninety percent of the solicitors and estate agents as the price for a personal search is usually lower than the local authority can provide. Also the lenders have realised that if they want to provide mortgages for Home Information Packs they must accept personal searches and with the insurance attached to the personal searches they have less risk than those from local authorities which do not have insurance cover. Now only the more obscure and less switched on lenders will not accept personal searches. There is a misconception that personal searches in Hip's go out of date after three months. This is not the case.

The searches and indeed the whole Hip are acceptable for as long as the property is marketed although some solicitors acting for potential buyers are asking for the local search, whether official or personal, to be renewed as things such as tree preservation orders, planning agreements, conservation areas etc can change overnight. This is simply due diligence and not a reflection on searches. Official Local Authority Searches or Personal searches? The choice is yours.

Article Source: http://www.realestatepropertyarticles.com.

About the Author:
Clearance Solutions Ltd specialize in providing comprehensive house clearance and Office clearance services throughout London and the South East.