Continued inefficiency and anti-competitive behaviour at some local councils means that the length of time buyers wait for vital property search documents relates directly to their postcode, according to leading property data company OneSearch Direct, which compiled the local authority research.
This could be a serious and costly issue for someone selling a home in the West London Borough of Hillingdon. The worst offending local authority, Hillingdon takes an average of 44 days to return search data – a huge increase on last year’s average of 20 days for homebuyers to receive important information from this council.
OneSearch Direct’s findings have been mirrored by other leading industry experts. Ted Beardsall’s Local Property Searches and Leasehold Information report, published this month, detailed how some councils were being unnecessarily restrictive, and in some instances even deliberately obstructive, towards private search companies.
Just one example of this would be Copeland Borough Council which, despite allowing an unrestricted number of searches, will only allow them to be completed between 10am and 12pm on Fridays!
Given that the most pressing concern for nearly half of all homebuyers is the length of the home buying process, this is clearly cause for concern – especially since there is real need for stimulation in the current property market.
However, some local authorities are doing their bit to keep deal flow going and are leading the way in the postcode lottery. Crawley Borough Council tops the efficiency league with an average of just 2.25 days to return search data.
The majority of the worst offenders remain in the South East of England, where the housing market is most competitive and speed is of the essence, despite warnings from OneSearch last year of the region’s shortfalls in this area. Over half of local authorities taking 10 days or more to return key information are located in London and the South East, including three of the five slowest on the league table of 350 councils.
