How long do Searches take?

Cattail

Hi everyone
I know it's a "how long is piece of string" type question but....
How long on averge are searches taking to complete?
Greater Manchester area.
We are having the full works including mining.
Thanks

Surrey_EA

Varies massively from one local authority to another. If your solicitor is local to the area in which you're buying they should have a decent idea, or they may have been given an expected return date by their search provider.

Most searches are done online these days, meaning the results are available quickly, the only one that seems to take any time is the local authority search which is provided by the local authority.

wantonnoodle

We bought our house in February this year. Searches were done in January and took around 10 days. This was in the Trafford Council area (Altrincham) so may give you an idea.

Having said that, the market was very quiet over last winter.

TBagpuss

It varies a lot. When I last moved,my searches took just over a week, but the searches on the house I was selling (which came under a different council) took 6 weeks.

If you have a local solicitor they will be able to give you a good idea. if you don't, you could try asking the agents who may have some idea of what is usual.

bmouthboyo

Is there anyway to speed these up? Bugging the LA with phone calls or emails?

Car1980

Nope. Solicitors work at their own pace. It’s out of their hands when searches come back anyway.

Bria_Smith

Most councils take too long the best and most cost effective way to get searches done is to use a Search Agent we have used this company and they were very good. BKS Property Search - search on google

We saved at least £100.. and had them back in 7 days

We found most solicitors use the searches as an excuse for the delays in doing other parts of the process..

Clutterfree

Our local authority is terrible. We moved 20 months ago and the average time was 8 weeks! I had to call the LA in the end because our searches were holding up the chain. The lady doing them said she'd put it to the top if the pile and she was true to her word. I believe she is the only one who deals with them hence the long wait and if she's away then none get done!

davidmcn

Bria_Smith wrote: »

Most councils take too long the best and most cost effective way to get searches done is to use a Search Agent we have used this company and they were very good. ### - search on google

We saved at least £100.. and had them back in 7 days

We found most solicitors use the searches as an excuse for the delays in doing other parts of the process..

While this post smells suspiciously spammy, I (once again) have to say I am baffled why people in England & Wales persist in getting searches from local authorities rather than the more efficient private providers. In Scotland we ditched councils years ago, private searchers can get the info back within a couple of days.