While it’s true that some house sales can take an exorbitant eight months to finalise, this delay, often attributed to the search process, can be significantly reduced.
Zoopla’s research indicates that completing a house sale in the UK can take anywhere from 17 to 34 weeks. Standard practice among conveyancing lawyers is to allocate two to three weeks for search completion. However, the Independent Property Search Agents (IPSA) organisation suggests that engaging local search experts can drastically cut down this time.
IPSA’s chairman, Andrew Prismall, points out that although searches are frequently blamed for house sale delays, the actual cause is more likely to be a backlog in processing. He notes that IPSA’s independent agents are often able to expedite simple searches, sometimes returning complete information to conveyancers within just a few hours.
Prismall advises conveyancers and solicitors to consider employing independent local agents for search tasks. These agents, with their deep local knowledge and direct connections with planning officials, are less likely to have their requests overlooked. Moreover, local agents tend to be not only faster but also more thorough and precise, given their familiarity with regional issues. They often present a more cost-effective solution compared to larger firms, making it a beneficial choice across the board.
IPSA member firms consistently demonstrate swift turnaround times, showcasing the efficiency and effectiveness of local, expert agents in accelerating the search process.
Case Study 1: Staffordshire
Heather Poole-Gleed, who is IPSA’s director of membership services, owns Shropshire Property Search Ltd. She was approached by a conveyancer, who wasn’t an existing client, who needed an urgent search on a property in nearby South Staffordshire.
Heather said: “The phone call was received on a Thursday afternoon. They needed an urgent search and had been quoted four weeks by their current provider.
“I explained that the only hold-up for this council was obtaining the building control information, which could often take two to three weeks, but that my contact at the council was sometimes willing to expedite in certain circumstances – and, obviously, as long as I didn’t say every case was urgent!
“I was able to obtain all of the required information and return the completed regulated local search to my client on Tuesday afternoon – just three working days, rather than the four weeks they had been quoted.”
Case Study 2: Hampshire
Andrew Prismall runs HW Conveyancing Searches in Hampshire. On Friday March 17 at 12.56pm, Andrew received an order from a local firm of solicitors via the website for a standard search pack, comprising a regulated local search, a drainage report and an environmental search, as well as a Chancel Check report, for a property in Basingstoke.
Most of the information requested was returned to the solicitors that day!
The environmental report was emailed at 2.19pm, the Chancel Check report at 2.20pm and the regulated local search at 2.30pm.
Andrew said: “I had to wait until the following Monday to get the drainage report from Southern Water – had it been a new build property, which doesn’t need the drainage information, they would have had the whole search pack back in just two hours and 11 minutes!
“It just goes to prove that searches don’t have to take an age to complete and there doesn’t always need to be a delay in the sale process. Using a local agent could help you get what you need quicker, cheaper and more accurately.”
For more information about IPSA and to find an independent local search agent, please visit https://ipsa-online.org.uk/.
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