Land charges update

Following thorough testing of an interim software solution for land searches, we are now able to carry out personal searches. 

The software solution has been tested and checked, and several personal searches were issued yesterday (Thursday, 21 May). 

We are now working through the backlog of personal searches in the date order we received them. This is not an automatic process and likely to take some time and we thank you for your continued patience. We will update you further once we are clear on how quickly we can clear this.

We are also working on issuing official land searches. The software is in place and working but these take slightly longer to issue as they must be guaranteed by the council. This requires extra work and information gathering. We should be able to start working on the backlog of official searches next week and will go through them in the order we received them. 

The solution we now have in place is considered a ‘work around’ to the original issue. The work around is highlighting ways in which we can resolve the outstanding issues with our new system. However, we are confident that search results are full and accurate. 

We will continue to work with our supplier to find a long term, permanent solution to the original issue but residents can be confident that the interim fix is providing accurate search results in the meantime.

We are very sorry for the undue inconvenience this has caused people buying and selling property locally. We thank you for your patience.