Homebuyers and agents are furious with Harrogate Borough Council over its land search delays.
The council has admitted it is currently struggling with the volume of requests but insisted the wait is around 30 working days.
Since publishing a story about the delays we have been contacted by people who dispute the council’s timescale.
Far away from the estimated 30 working days, some claim they put requests in at the end of summer to be told that it won’t be cleared until December.
A financial adviser in Harrogate, who requested anonymity, wanted to move to a bigger house as his family is growing.
He says he put in a search request on September 25, only to be told this week that will likely be the end of December when it is complete:
“Our main issue is the communications from Harrogate Borough Council, we have had too many mixed messages.
“I think anyone could have predicted that the Stamp Duty holiday would increase demand. Why wasn’t the council prepared?”
In an email to the financial adviser, the council said it has just two staff working on searches after two “experienced members of the team” left.
An increase in demand, a backlog of searches from the first lockdown and struggles with staff numbers have all put strain on the process.
Hours after that email the communications department at the council said it currently has eight staff processing searches.
Read more:
- Harrogate council urges homebuyers to be patient about search delays
- Harrogate homebuyers frustrated by land search delays
The council also disputed the claim that searches submitted in September will not be complete by December:
“The 30-day figure is an average therefore it is the case that some searches are taking longer than 30-working days.
“We anticipate that, depending on submissions, which are currently running at twice the number we would expect, additional resources will allow us to soon reduce processing times.”
James Wort, a director at Strutt and Parker, told the Stray Ferret that his clients have experienced delays up to 90 days:
“I can give about 17 examples where the search delays have been three times what the council have said.
“We have emails from the council saying that requests from September will be complate by December. But they say it’s not true. It’s scandalous. “
