Local Authority Search turnaround times up by as much as 933%

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Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 5 years ago

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Topic starter 08/03/2024 10:12 am

I received this today from Home Sale Pack who have analysed the most recent data around the time it takes for England & Wales’ local planning councils to turnaround Local Authority Searches (LA Searches) - an essential part of the conveyancing process - to see how the expected turnaround time has changed between January 2023 and February 2024.

The analysis reveals that:

Today, the average turnaround time for an LA Search in England & Wales is 13 days. This is four days less than the 2023 average of 17 days, marking an annual reduction of -22.5%.
Cooling housing market conditions and reduced buyer demand means that across England & Wales’ 344 local councils, 132 (38%) have managed to reduce the average turnaround time since last year.
With the most impressive reduction of all local authorities, Gloucester City Council has reduced its average turnaround time by -94.4%, falling from 177 days in January 2023 to just 10 days today.
South Derbyshire District Council has reduced its waiting time by -83.3%, from 30 days down to just five, while the average LA Search by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council now takes 10 days compared to 55 days in January 2023 - an annual reduction of -81.8%.
While many authorities have managed to reduce their waiting times, it’s clear that some are still struggling when it comes to servicing the market, with 53 (15%) of the nation’s 344 planning councils recording an increase in average LA Search turnaround times.
The largest increase has been recorded by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Today, it takes an average of 62 days to return an LA Search compared to just 6 days in January 2023. This is an astonishing annual increase of 933.3%.
LA Searches by Bridgend County Borough Council now take 134 days compared to a 30-day average last year - an increase of 346.7% - and Southend-on-Sea City Council has seen the average LA Search turnaround time increase by 250%, rising from two days to seven days.
Other councils to see an increase of more than 100% are North Northamptonshire Council (150%), South Ribble Borough Council (133.3%), Cumberland Council (114.3%), and Bolton Metro Borough Council (106.7%).