New Performance Tables Reveal National Average Turnaround For Local Authority Property Search Is 4 Days

Published by Fiona Barron for Land Data in Housing and also in Local Government

7th October 2008
 

Official Local Authority data from Land Data reveals the national average turnaround for an electronic local authority (LA) property search is 4 days and the average over the counter search fee for a combined Con29 and LLC1 is £117.

The performance tables reveal the lowest fee charged for a combined Con29R and LLC1 search in August 2008, was just £40 charged by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. The highest was £286 charged by Barnet London Borough Council. 16 of the 410 LAs analysed charge more than £200 and 46 charge less than £90.

Turnaround times of electronic searches vary between Local Authorities, with 10 LAs delivering results in less than 1 day, 27 taking between 1 and 2 days and a further 60 taking between 2 and 3 days. The research revealed only 8 of the 410 LAs analysed take 10 days or more.

As Local Authority fees and search turnaround times can fluctuate on a month by month basis, Land Data has analysed data over a 6 month period to reveal the LAs who have consistently performed well and those that have consistently underperformed. Lewisham London Borough Council features as a top performer reducing its fee by £85 over the period. The biggest fee increase over the same period came from Surrey Heath Borough Council with an increase of 65%. Dover District Council shows an improvement of over 85% for consistently reducing its turnaround time of NLIS electronic searches, while Newcastle upon Tyne has increased its turnaround by an average of 6.5 days.
The performance tables reveal:
The LAs which have reduced fees by the greatest amount over the period are Lewisham London Borough, Hambleton District, Bury Borough, South Gloucestershire, and Wirral Metropolitan.
The LAs which have made greatest improvement in turnaround times are Dover District, Carmarthen County, Easington District, Vale Royal Borough, and Bridgnorth District.
The LAs which have made the largest increase in fees are Surrey Heath Borough, Allerdale Borough, Isle of Wright, Lancaster City, and Great Yarmouth Borough.
The LAs whose turnaround time performance has deteriorated the most are Newcastle upon Tyne, Preston Borough, North East Derbyshire District, East Northamptonshire District and West Lindsey District.
In August 2008 the slowest return of an electronic search was North East Derbyshire District Council which took 14 days and the fastest was St Helens Borough which took 0.19 days.
Land Data CEO Alex Fraser commented: These figures provide evidence that while some Local Authorities are still lagging behind, many now deliver electronic searches faster than before and at a lower fee. It is encouraging to see the levels of improvement and to know that the fees are getting closer to the objective of charging on a cost recovery basis, which will ultimately be better value for money for consumers.
The 10 Lowest Over the Counter (OTC) Search Fees(Con29R + LLC1) at 1st September 08

Local Authority OTC Fee (CON29R + LLC1) £s
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council 40
Hambleton District Council 45
Portsmouth City Council 50
Wellingborough Borough Council 57.5
Exeter City Council 63
Maidstone Borough Council 70
Medway Council 70
City & County of Swansea 70.5
Caerphilly County Borough Council 71
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council 74

The 10 Fastest NLIS electronic search turnaround times in August 08

Local Authority Average Turnaround (days)
St Helens Borough Council 0.19
South Gloucestershire Council 0.22
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council 0.24
Windsor & Maidenhead Royal Borough Council 0.35
Dartford Borough Council 0.41
Bromley London Borough Council 0.45
Northampton Borough Council 0.71
Enfield London Borough Council 0.71
Chiltern District Council 0.75
North Norfolk District Council 0.99

The 10 Highest Over the Counter (OTC) Search Fees at 1st September 08
Local Authority OTC Fee (CON29R + LLC1) £s
Barnet London Borough Council 286
Lambeth London Borough Council 275
Kensington & Chelsea Royal London Borough Council 257.5
Hammersmith & Fulham London Borough Council 247
Woking Borough Council 246.15
Runnymede Borough Council 240
Ealing London Borough Council 235
Wandsworth London Borough Council 233
Waltham Forest London Borough Council 220
Croydon London Borough Council 218

The 10 Slowest NLIS electronic search turnaround response times in August 08
Local Authority Average Turnaround (days)
North East Derbyshire District Council 14.12
Hillingdon London Borough Council 13.70
Liverpool City Council 12.69
Preston Borough Council 12.50
West Lindsey District Council 12.49
Malvern Hills District Council 12.02
Newcastle upon Tyne City Council 11.73
Tamworth Borough Council 10.17
Teesdale District Council 9.43
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council 9.42

More performance tables can be viewed at www.land-data.org.uk

For further information please contact:
Fiona BarronJustin Scott at Land Data
Tel: 07770 855337 / 020 3043 8875
Email:fiona.barron@land-data.org.uk /justin.scott@land-data.org.uk
www.land-data.org.uk

Notes to Editors

The data is sourced from the National Land Information Service (NLIS) Hub and is drawn from figures supplied over the period March to September 2008.

All the statistics are based on residential searches.

Land Data manages NLIS, which was set up to support local authorities (LAs) and other property information holders in England and Wales in their move from manual to electronic provision of property information services. Through the NLIS hub, users can access information from 410 Local Authorities, national parks, Land Registry, the Coal Authority and water companies, in an electronic format. Land Data became a Community Interest Company in January 2006 in recognition of its commitment to making electronic property search information accessible to the general public and thereby improving the home buying process.