Conveyancing searches go on-line

DATABASE: launch of service providers boosts electronic property search engine

The e-conveyancing revolution received a boost last week, with the commercial launch of the service providers aiming to cut the search process by weeks.MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates (which has the Law Society as part of its consortium), Searchflow, and Teramedia were granted licences to run channels for the National Land Information Service (NLIS) earlier this year.NLIS is focused on allowing almost instant access to the massive database of information used for conveyancing searches.

Each property in the UK will be given a unique reference number against which searches can be made.The aim is to cut down the time taken for searches - which can currently take weeks - to 48 hours.

The service is seen as underpinning the government's long-term aim of introducing paperless offices and conducting property transactions on-line.NLIS operates through a hub - or a gateway - controlled by the MacDonald Dettwiler consortium.Marshall Prentice, the business manager of MacDonald Dettwiler's TransAction Online, said pilot testing of the service had been 'well received by participating solicitors.

We're now in a limited operating mode'.

The current problem faced by all the providers is that while the request process is quicker, much of the search information has yet to be automated.

Only 42 of the 409 local authorities are fully on-line.The launches are the latest move in an expansion programme aimed at developing the electronic property search engine, and the government is ploughing money into local authorities to equip them with the technology to go on-line.Jilly Oxlade, marketing manager with Teramedia, said the concept of the NLIS is becoming increasingly popular with both government and conveyancers.'There is a massive campaign going on at the moment to make this into a useable search facility,' she explained.

'There are some very excited conveyancers out there who are champing at the bit to get this service.'The NLIS is currently mooting the idea of bringing a fourth channel service provider into the picture, Ms Oxlade added.Searchflow's chief executive officer, Mark Riddick, said the service would be invaluable for solicitors, who should view it as 'an intelligent and dedicated postman'.LINKS: www.mda.ca;www.territorium.co.uk;www.searchflow.co.ukPaula Rohan