The Land Registry has put forward proposals to reform Local Authority searches, as part of its attempt to create a centralised digital database of Land Charges.

Currently, Local Authority searches can differ in price and speed, depending on what Local Authority the property being searches is located.

 

The Land Registry Director for Transformation, has said that ‘the aim of creating a national register was to eliminate regional variations in the speed, format and cost of LLC searches’.

 

The proposal is for land charges data from ‘four or five’ local authorities to be migrated to the new central database this summer – the first step to standardising local search data. Data from 26 authorities is due to be available from the ‘national Local Land Charges register’ by the end of the year.

 

The Law Society have however criticised such a plan and have highlighted the fact that historical data from Local Authorities could be lost.

 

However, such a move to a centralised database would likely reduce delays in search results and help speed up the conveyancing process.

 

If you are purchasing a property, please contact us on 01792 648111 or mail@johnmorse.co.uk and we can provide expert advice on searches and all matters relating to conveyancing.