Research commissioned by STL Group found that 9 out of the 10 top mortgage lenders now accept fast track personal searches. Often much cheaper and quicker than postal searches via the local authority, personal searches speed up the decision to lend, thereby improving service levels all round.
Comments Alan Thorogood, CEO of STL Group: "With such a large take up from the top ten lenders, 93.2% of all property transactions could now be completed using a personal search. To put this in context, in 2003 this would have equated to 1.24 million mortgage transactions."
"The number of searches carried out personally has grown significantly in the past few years along with the advent of the government-backed National Land Information Service (NLIS). Designed to introduce a web based system for the request and delivery of property searches, the system has had to rely on local authorities computerising their own records - a long and
expensive process - and as such only a minority of councils (49 out of the 397 local authorities) have a fully automated system."
"Conveyancers need to be aware that personal searches are the most efficient option and that ultimately they bring a tangible benefit for the home buyer - a faster completion date."
With the recent creation of the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO), members and their search results are now regulated by a trade organisation that includes private search companies, environmental data providers and water authorities. Personal searches, backed by the necessary
Professional Indemnity insurance and regulated by CoPSO, will continue to be attractive to conveyancers due to their speed, cost and service issues.
