Search times by councils in England and Wales are often chronically slow, research shows.
That makes the overall sales process so long winded, some investors claim they are deterred from projects such as flipping redeveloped houses.
Some 184 of 344 councils have seen their search turnaround times increase in 2024.
East Lindsey District Council, the London Borough of Hackney, the London Borough of Islington, and South Ribble Borough Council have each seen an increase of 26 days just this year.
The longest turnaround time of 51 days is found in St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council and the London Borough of Hackney: by contrast the shortest turnaround time of two days is found in Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.
Property service Moverly analysed the average time it takes for every local authority to return a Local Authority Search and how this turnaround time has changed since the start of 2023.
The data reveals that, across all 344 local authorities, the average time it takes to return a Local Authority Search currently stands at 11 days.
This marks a decrease of four days since the start of 2023. However, the analysis shows that waiting times vary significantly based on location.
St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council and the London Borough of Hackney create the longest wait – an average of 51 days to return a search.
It’s a similar story in the London Borough of Camden, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, London Borough of Islington, and East Lindsey District Council, all of which have a current average turnaround time of 46 days.
Conversely, there are 75 local authorities that boast an average turnaround time of less than 10 days which means people in the likes of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (2 days), City of York Council (3 days), and Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (3 days) are benefitting from buying in highly efficient local authority districts.
Gemma Young, Moverly chief executive, comments: “We can see from the data that homebuyers are facing a genuine postcode lottery when it comes to how long they’re being forced to wait for Local Authority Searches to be completed.
“Some buyers are getting them back in 48 hours while others are waiting for well over a month. And when buyers are being held up, so too are sellers.
“Sellers, therefore, need to look for ways of speeding up the conveyancing process and one crucial way of doing this is to ensure that more information is provided upfront.
In fact, the provision of ‘Material Information’ is a relatively new legal requirement for home sellers and estate agents and it’s required at the point of marketing a home.
“This new regulation was designed to help the industry streamline selling timelines by priming it for the legal process ahead of time, providing a greater depth of information on a property beyond previously required information such as an Energy Performance Certificates.”
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