Harrogate Borough Council has urged homebuyers to be patient after admitting it is struggling to cope with the volume of land searches.

The council posted a message on Facebook yesterday saying it had received more than 700 search requests in October, which is about twice as many as the same month last year.

Local authority searches, which check there are no hidden surprises for buyers, are an essential part of the home-buying process.

The council said it was doing “everything we can to reduce the processing times for searches that is currently around 30 working days”. It added:

“We have significantly increased the number of staff working on land searches but it will inevitably take time for their training to be completed and a positive impact to be felt.

“With requests continuing to rise we would encourage people to be mindful of the current timescales and advise them to carry out searches as early as possible in their housing buying process.”

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A buoyant market, fulled by the freeze in stamp duty, has left many homebuyers keen to complete moves before Christmas.

A council spokesman said:

“Our normal target for processing searches is seven working days. So we know it can be frustrating to hear our current timescales are closer to 30 working days.

“The main reason for the extended timeframe is due to the high volume of search requests that have been received over the last six months.”

The Stray Ferret first reported the delays last month. Property experts suggested searches in Harrogate were taking several weeks longer than in neighbouring Leeds and York.

The situation is frustrating for homebuyers and estate agents.

Alex Goldstein, an independent property consultant in Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret:

“The turnaround time of searches is currently appalling. I have several transactions currently on hold. Both sides have to put down tools to wait for the searches.

“As a result it can easily take three months from going under offer to exchange. Something that would normally take one month.”

Mr Goldstein added the delays can be particularly hard on those with financial worries.

It costs £103.95 for a search, which reveals information on issues relating to the property such as previous planning applications, roads, utilities and the environment.

The Stray Ferret has previously spoken to a couple selling a property in Grantley near Ripon who waited 10 weeks for a search.