Wakefield vendors offered six-hour searches for £40

Vendors in Wakefield in Yorkshire benefit from the lowest search fees and one of the fastest electronic search turnaround times in the country, according to new statistics from Land Data.

Land Data’s Local Authority League Table, published last week, reveals that Wakefield Metropolitan District Council charged just £40 for a combined Con29R and LLC1 search in August.

The council also provided the third fastest average electronic search turnaround time at around six hours, well below the national average turnaround of four days.

Land Data’s research shows that St Helens Borough Council in Merseyside provided the fastest turnaround time at just under five hours, costing £110, while the slowest service was provided by North East Derbyshire District Council, which took 14 days and three hours, costing £82.

Barnet London Borough Council charged the highest search fee last month at £286, which is above the national average of £117. But its average turnaround time was just 1.61 days.

Surrey Heath Borough Council made the biggest increase to its fees, which increased 65.3% from £95 in March to £157 in August, though turnaround times averaged 1.54 days over the six-month period.

This compares to Lewisham London Borough Council, which reduced its fees by 57%, from £150 in March to £65 in August.

Vendors in Newcastle-upon-Tyne experienced the greatest service deterioration, with the City Council having doubled its turnaround time from an average 5.21 days in March to 11.73 in August.

Dover District Council made the biggest improvement, reducing its average 16.01 day turnaround in March to just 2.64 days in August. Camarthen County Council in West Wales followed closely, reducing its turnaround time from 21.12 days to 8.36 days in the same period.

Alex Fraser, chief executive officer of Land Data, says: “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.”

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