Search Acumen comments on the launch of the central, digital Local Land Charges register in Liverpool
Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director of Search Acumen, comments:
“With the launch of the Local Land Charges (LLC) digital register, Liverpool’s property market is set to enter a new age of efficiency. The newly digitised data will provide solicitors with instant access to data needed to carry out due diligence for homebuyers and sellers, which they could have previously waited weeks to receive. This will save buyers and sellers weeks of administrative angst and will also reduce the risk of transactions falling through.
“Liverpool’s property market has already boomed in recent years, nearing an annual valuation of £1bn in 2017, a 124% growth in just five years. As the city becomes one of the first regions to benefit from a streamlined property transaction process, the housing market could be set to attract even further investment.
“As HM Land Registry rolls out the digitised service across England and Wales, homebuyers, sellers, estate agents and solicitors will be set to save millions of unnecessary days spent waiting for vital information to finalise property sales and purchases. We truly believe this revolution will transform the process of buying and selling property in the UK.
“Search Acumen has long championed the practical benefits of opening up property data for law firms and homebuyers, and we’re excited to work alongside HM Land Registry to make Liverpool’s switch-on a success.”
Kindly shared by Search Acumen
COMMENTS
I am writing in regard to yet another article on your Inside Conveyancing website from Search Acumen announcing the presumed advantages of Liverpool City Council going live with the Land Registry.
Quote “The newly digitised data will provide solicitors with instant access to data needed to carry out due diligence for homebuyers and sellers, which they could have previously waited weeks to receive. This will save buyers and sellers weeks of administrative angst and will also reduce the risk of transactions falling through”
There are two parts to a search – the Certificate of Local Land Charges and the Con29. Both parts are required by a solicitor to process a purchase. So even if the solicitor obtains the Certificate – they still need to submit the Con29 part of the search to the local authority which will take a few days to complete. No solicitor will advise their client to go ahead and purchase a property without the Con29. There is no mention of the Con29 in the article. The statement that homebuyers and sellers could have previously waited weeks to receive the search – is largely unfounded. 85% of official searches are returned within 5 working days. I would also point out that solicitors do not rush the house buying process. Many admit this themselves. Even if a private company were to obtain the relevant information for a Con29 themselves –that still takes time.
A recent survey was carried out and the results showed that less than 1% of solicitors said that the local search was the reason for transactions falling through or taking a long time.
Quote: “As HM Land Registry rolls out the digitised service across England and Wales, homebuyers, sellers, estate agents and solicitors will be set to save millions of unnecessary days spent waiting for vital information to finalise property sales and purchases. We truly believe this revolution will transform the process of buying and selling property in the UK”
What will revolutionise the process ? I repeat – both parts of a search are required for any property transaction. Sometimes a third part is required – the Con29O.
