Land searches resume after new IT system delays

A council has said it is able to carry out personal land searches again following delays caused by transitioning to a new computer system.

House sales in Bracknell, Berkshire, have been affected by outstanding search requests, which provide information about a property and potential issues that could affect its sale.

At the start of May, there were about 700 outstanding personal and local land searches, according to Bracknell Forest Council.

Several personal searches were issued on Thursday, the council said, adding that it "should be able to start working on the backlog of official searches next week", which it said require "extra work".

The authority said it was working through the backlog of personal searches in the date order it received them.

"This is not an automatic process and likely to take some time and we thank you for your continued patience," it said in a statement.

The solution currently in place was a "work around" to the original issue and was "highlighting ways in which we can resolve the outstanding issues with our new system", it said adding: "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."

Estate agent Kevin Winchester previously told the BBC he had noticed a decline in people enquiring about selling their homes over the past couple of months.

He said he had some customers who were due to emigrate but could not sell their home.

"It's a grave concern," he said. "It's terrible, it's ridiculous, I've never known anything like it before."

Several people in the process of selling or buying also spoke to the BBC about the impact the search delays were having.

Marie Anglim started the process of selling her home at the beginning of February.

"Our buyer is a first time buyer and the house we're buying is a new build, so there's no chain involved and it should have been really straightforward," she said.

"What should have been so simple is actually turning into a nightmare for everybody and there's hundreds of people in exactly the same situation as we are."

Bracknell Forest Council has apologised for the "undue inconvenience this has caused people buying and selling property locally".