Harrogate homebuyers fear missing stamp duty holiday over search delays

Homebuyers in Harrogate fear missing the stamp duty holiday over the delays for land searches at Harrogate Borough Council.

The stamp duty holiday which ends on March 31 and could save them up to £15,000.

With thousands of pounds on the line some are turning to private firms, even after paying the council to do the land search.

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

The council told the Stray Ferret:

“Current approximate timescales are around seven weeks. A figure we are striving to improve.”

“We are also increasing staff to approximately nine full time.”

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While the council acknowledges that the land search delays are high, some homebuyers claim they are see in much longer delays.

Mr Costar put a land search request into the council on December 4 and has been told to expect it back by April 28.

He says the buyer of his home put in a search request in early September and has not received it back yet:

“If we do not get this completed before the end of March we will have to pay £3,000 in stamp duty. It is not going to stop us but it is a lot of money.

“It’s nuts really. York and Leeds have nowhere near the same amount of waiting time as we do in Harrogate.”

The Stray Ferret first reported the delays in October when homebuyers first complained to us about the issue.

Back then Harrogate Borough Council said the average search time was just over three weeks.

Just over a month later the council had increased the expected search delays to seven weeks, the council says that figure remains today.

Harrogate council increases search delays to seven weeks

Harrogate Borough Council has increased the average time to complete land searches from 30 working days to up to seven weeks.

The council has asked those waiting to be patient and request a land search as early as possible.

An increase in demand, a backlog of searches from the first lockdown and struggles with staff numbers have all put strain on the process.

The Stray Ferret has reported the frustration of homebuyers and agents over the last month, who all disputed the council’s previous 30 working days time scale.

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Some claim to have put in requests at the end of summer to be told that it won’t be cleared until December.

Harrogate Borough Council put an updated on their social media channels to say the the waiting time had increased:

“We are doing everything we can to reduce the processing times for local land charge searches.

“It is currently taking between six and seven weeks on average for us to complete our part of the searches process.”

Now that the current lockdown is coming to an end the council is opening the civic centre to allow personal searches to take place.

James Wort, a director at Strutt and Parker, previously 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. “

Harrogate council urges homebuyers to be patient about search delays

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.

Harrogate homebuyers frustrated by land search delays

People buying and selling property in the Harrogate district have expressed frustration over delays for land searches to be completed.

A buoyant local property market has increased the workload on Harrogate Borough Council.

The Stray Ferret understands searches in Harrogate are taking several weeks longer than in neighbouring authorities Leeds and York.

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

HBC’s local land charges team charges £103.95 for a search, which reveals information on issues relating to the property such as previous planning applications, roads, utilities and the environment.

According to HBC’s website, the average search time in August 2020 was just over three weeks. However, the Stray Ferret has spoken to someone selling a house, an estate agent, and a solicitor who all say the process is now taking much longer.

‘Banging your head against a brick wall’

Robert Ash and his wife are currently selling a property in the village of Grantley, near Ripon. Their buyer’s solicitor asked HBC to undertake a search of the property at the end of August and he has now been told the result will be ready on November 8 — 10 weeks later.

Mr Ash suggested it could be taking longer because “everyone is trying to sell a house in Harrogate” at the moment.

He said he’d tried to ask the council why it was taking so much longer than expected but said “it’s like banging your head against a brick wall”. He added:

“It does seem ridiculous because everyone is anxious to get on with these things.”

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Estate agent Jak Cavanagh from Knight Frank in Harrogate said the delays were too long.

Knight Frank has offices across the country and Mr Cavanagh said Harrogate was known nationally for taking a long time to process searches.

He said searches were now taking 10-12 weeks, around twice as long as they were pre-covid.

“It would be great if they were a bit quicker. It’s delaying things a bit too much.

“From a seller’s point of view, it can be frustrating, but Harrogate is known all over the country for this, I’m afraid.”

Leeds and York quicker

The estate agent’s experience was echoed by local property solicitor Mike Sheldon, from the law firm Wilson Bramwell.

Mr Sheldon said searches were taking far longer in Harrogate compared to other local authorities, such as York and Leeds.

He said:

“The council are taking longer, there’s no question about that, but it’s just the volume of conveyancing that’s going on. It’s slowing things down. Each council is different but Leeds and York seem to be a lot quicker.”

In a statement released to the Stray Ferret, HBC said the current processing timescales for searches was approximately 28 working days.

It said July, August and September were the busiest three months for local land charges team in “a number of years”.

The council added that increased pressures related to covid meant it was unable to provide the team with additional resources. It also said two experienced staff from the team had recently retired.

The council added it had made overtime available for staff to clear some of the backlog.

A council spokesperson said:

“We appreciate how stressful buying a house can be and we are doing everything we can to reduce the processing times for local land charge searches.

“There have been a number of issues that have meant we are dealing with an unprecedented level of demand so we are asking people to be mindful of the current timescales and advise them to carry out searches as early as possible in their housing buying process.”