Four councils in Kent work together to help home movers

=A new electronic local land charges search service will speed up property transactions for home movers in Kent.

At two launch events on 26 and 28 February, solicitors and estate agents will find out how the new service will save them time and money, as well as helping them provide a vastly improved service to local home movers.

When someone buys or sells a property, one of the processes they have to complete is a local land charges search from the records held by the local council.

All of the councils in Kent are electronically connected to a national search service called NLIS (National Land Information Service), which enables them to reduce the time it takes to process searches. Using NLIS, the average turnaround time for searches from the four councils hosting the events is just 5.5 days.

The announcement is particularly significant because it is helping local businesses and home movers get ready for the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs).  From June 2007, all home sellers will have to produce a HIP before putting their property on the market.  Local land charges searches, which let buyers know about any restrictions, such as planning permissions, that could affect their new property, will form an essential part of HIPs. 

Home sellers will benefit from fast, official local authority searches because it will enable their agents to produce HIPs quicker. This means that the seller can market their property within the fastest possible time-frame. Having an official local authority search in the HIP will give home buyers a full picture about the property they are planning to purchase and will enable them to make informed decisions.

Property buying and selling has a big impact on residents, businesses, estate agents and solicitors across Kent.  The current population of 1,618,000 in Kent is estimated to grow by 33,300 in the next five years.  Approximately 6,100 new dwellings are expected each year.  Major growth areas are expected, such as the Thames Gateway development, which will bring around 15,000 new homes, Kent Thameside and the Channel corridor. 

The new, improved service will be launched to local solicitors and estate agents at two morning briefings: 26 February, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and 28 February, Dartford Borough Council. Both events are CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Accredited for solicitors.

The four councils hosting the events, who collectively process 15,000 searches per annum, are:

Sevenoaks District Council

Dartford Borough Council

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

Ends

Press release issued: February 19 2007