A new Land Registry initative is to look at how local authority searches can be improved to avoid the problems caused by property deal fall-throughs.

The pilot involving up to seven local councils in England and Wales will see how digitised records of building regulations and highways schemes could help.

This initiative will run alongside the existing digitisation and phased migration of local land charge (LLC) searches from local authorities to the Land Registry which has seen a third of councils make the switch so far.

Experience

Some homebuyers will take part in the pilots, which will complete in March 2026, so they can feedback their experience of a digitised local searches service.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) says building regs and highways searches cause some of the longest delays in property searches.

Improving access to this data will help speed up transactions and reduce the number of fall-throughs, it says.

This pilot is a further step towards a faster, more efficient property market.”

Rhonda Griffiths, Head of Programme & Policy in the Local Land Charges Programme at Land Registry, says: “This pilot is a further step towards a faster, more efficient property market.

“By unlocking more critical data, and making it accessible earlier in the transaction process, we can reduce uncertainty and support better decision-making.,” she says.

“The delivery of a 21st century data-driven property market cannot be achieved in isolation; it is essential that everyone plays their part. This will make the buying and selling process even more transparent for everyone.”