Under the proposals, local authorities will be required to work more closely with private search companies to open up the process to competition, which the government hopes will improve the speed and price at which property searches are available.
The changes come after recommendations from the Office of Fair Trading and it is hoped that it will see search times come down from up to two weeks to one working day.
Iain Wright, Junior Housing Minister, admitted that the current structure was in need of review, and hoped the new proposals would ease the process.
He said: “Home buying and selling can be a stressful experience and we are committed to improving the system for people. By levelling the playing field for providers, consumers will be able to get important property information earlier in the home buying process and see the costs coming down as a result.”
Under the current system, private search companies are unable to access some information from councils, meaning they have to take out insurance to cover the gaps in their searches.
Caroline Havers, managing partner at Salans’ Bromley office, confirmed that local authority practices were outdated, which delayed the property search process.
She explained: “Some investment is still required from local authorities as some still do not provide the information online. However, anything to try and make the property searchprocess more uniform, in terms of cost and time, would be greatly welcomed as at the minute, it can be a bit of a lottery.”
Havers added: “It is also up to mortgage lenders now to accept the information from private firms as even if the person goes to the council and collects all the information themselves, it’s not treated the same as an official copy.”
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