The pressure group representing some property search organisations has taken another swipe at the Land Registry for its claim that searches are one of the major causes of delays in the conveyancing process.
The Council of Property Search Organisations, CoPSO, says research by another organisation - Move With Us - shows that searches do not figure amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process.
The Land Registry has repeatedly claimed that one of the core reasons for centralising the Local Land Charges Register is to reduce delays in conveyancing caused by searches, delays which this research seems to indicate just do not happen says CoPSO.
The top 10 causes for delay identified by Move With Us include difficulties getting hold of leasehold information, problems with mortgages and valuations, and hold ups in transferring funds to the conveyancer.
The Land Registry seems to be operating in its own dream world. Centralising the LLCR will speed up nothing for homebuyers; indeed in the short term it is likely to cause delays and even put the operation of the housing market at risk according to CoPSO chairman James Sherwood Rogers.
CoPSO has long expressed its opposition to centralising the LLCR. The existing search market is competitive, efficient and constantly improving. Over 80 per cent of local authority data is already held electronically he claims.
Comments
Beth,
you are right, Land Registry's proposal will not speed up the search result. In fact, if you take a look at the Land Registry impact statement you will see that they will most likely slow down the search result. An admission Land Registry readily makes. Good news eh
As for some Local Land Charges registers containing obsolete information I am baffled as to why you think this will change when Land Registry takes over. Who do you think is going to rid LLC registers of obsolete data Land Registry won't know what is obsolete and what isn't and be relying on Local Authorities and Local Authorities are certainly not going to invest time and expense sorting this out just so they can hand it over to Land Registry. This problem will still exist.
You say there are benefits from getting a copy of LLC1 data at a standardised fee, you can in fact already get it for free from Local Authorities and will be able to do so from Land Registry. However, unless you don't bother with Con29 data (lets' hope you do) then you will still be paying a non standardised fee for your complete search results as Land Registry have abandoned plans to provide Con29.
All that glisters isn't gold.
It may not speed up the search result but it will certainly tidy up the registers and save clients time and money. The land charges registers (one of which has been obsolete for decades) are cluttered with obsolete planning agreements recorded as a charge because the only people able to remove them are the developers and the local authority who have absolutely no interest in doing this. This means that conveyancers have to obtain a copy (sometimes as much as 30 per agreement and there can be several) just to check that there is nothing which would affect the clients use and enjoyment and the lender's good and marketable title. Only 1 in 50 actually has something that would affect a buyer's decision eg an restriction on use but you can't tell that without going through the hassle of obtaining the document.
If you look at what the Land Registry have done with the title, I for one would be delighted to see them do this with the Land Charges.
Who would have a problem which being able to obtain a copy of the LLC1 at a standardised charge (predicated far less than in some areas of the country and only slightly more in others) and quickly. Maybe there is something to COPSo's concerns