The matter of personal searches has always been controversial, but many firms – both solicitors and licensed conveyancers – rely on searches carried out by an agency and have done for many years. A survey carried out by STL in March 2007, before home information packs became compulsory, indicated that about 50% of all purchase transactions relied upon a personal search.

While we consider this figure to be optimistic, it does indicate that a significant percentage of solicitors use personal searches – obviously they would not continue to rely on them if they considered them to be inadequate.

In his letter, David Pearl referred to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). However, its guidance is not relevant, since the decision whether or not to use a personal search should be that of the client (whether buyer or lender – if the latter, their policy is set out in the CML Handbook) and not the conveyancer. Obviously, the conveyancer must give the buyer appropriate advice before this decision is made.

The implication that licensed conveyancers show a lack of professionalism and have lower standards than solicitors is disgraceful and should be withdrawn. Furthermore, to maintain the highest possible standards the CLC carries out both file and accounts inspections on all firms on a regular basis – something the Law Society does not do.