The UK’s largest network of solicitors has signed an agreement with the National Land Information service, which is the government licensed electronic on-line conveyancing search service.
The deal aims to shorten the time currently taken to complete local searches, including local authority, land registry, coal authority, water company and environmental, saving up to an hour on each case.
Independent research by Practical Solutions, a UK legal consultant has also shown that the service reduces costs by between £18 and £23 per case.
Jo Edge, spokeswoman for legal Marketing Services said: “This service takes conveyancing to new heights. Lenders, brokers and their clients will see a real difference in the speed in which cases are turned around.”
Edge continued: “Consumers are becoming more demanding. In an age of mobile phones and email they are unlikely to put up with a system that relies on painstaking manual research and postal communication. The victors in the conveyancing market will be those that invest the money in online systems and learn how to use them effectively.”
