Fiona Hoyle explains how the personal search sector has developed quality standards enabling it to deliver a reliable service to solicitors


It seems ironic that just as the private search market embraces regulation via the introduction of the search code and home information pack (HIP) regulations, the question of the quality and reliability of personal local searches once more raises its head. So what are the real issues?



Solicitors want searches they can trust, swift and efficient recourse if anything is wrong, and no need for any separate quality checking by them as margins do not allow for it. These requirements become even more essential as solicitors are asked to use searches in HIPs which they have not commissioned themselves. The private search industry appreciates this and has spent the past two years putting regulation in place.



With the advent of HIPs and significant growth in the private search market, it was no longer tenable for search providers to be unregulated when all other players in the home-buying supply chain either already were, or were being coerced, down that route.



The Search Code was launched in 2006 with an independent inspection and compliance monitoring arm in the form of the Property Codes Compliance Board. As well as setting a benchmark for searches, the code includes insurance requirements, competence testing and an independent complaints scheme. The search industry has been swift to support the code, with firms providing more than 90% of personal searches already registered, together with water companies, environmental, chancel repair and mining report providers, and the three National Land & Property Information Service channels. The new standards also have a statutory footing, as the HIP (No2) Regulations 2007 prescribe both the content of local searches and require all firms to have professional indemnity and run-off cover.



But quality standards are only any good if firms comply with them. The board has recently launched its formal compliance regime, which is inspecting firms and monitoring random sample searches for compliance with the code and HIP regulations. Over the next year, all personal search agents will be tested as the code's competence provisions are rolled out.



Looking at the reliability of personal searches, more than 650,000 reports were used by solicitors last year and the incidence of insurance claims and complaints was minimal. Around 90 mortgage lenders now rely on personal searches and half of these lenders also require the search firm to be registered under the Search Code. Personal searches are a reliable information source in the home-buying process, and this will be enhanced further via the regulatory framework set out in the HIP legislation and under the code.



Solicitors want searches that include all the information, and the government will shortly implement the Office of Fair Trading's recommendation that local authorities provide search firms with access to all local search data for inspection. Many are already doing this, and with a level playing field on the content of the local search, competition can focus on price and service delivery.



The search industry is not naive and recognises that it is on the first rungs of the regulation ladder and that increasing demands will be placed on it if the vision of a seamless local search sector is to be achieved. We know that the Law Society wants to see improvements in the layout of all local searches, standardised answers, and better information for consumers, so that they can make informed decisions about which searches they want. The Search Code provides an ideal framework for the private sector to deliver these reforms, at a much faster pace than legislation ever can.



The personal search sector is putting its house in order to deliver quality and reliable searches for solicitors and their clients via a regulatory scheme which far exceeds anything in the local authority sector.



Fiona Hoyle is a barrister and chairman of the Council of Property Search Organisations