Local authority searches across England & Wales

When you buy a home, your conveyancer relies on a set of property searches to reveal what public records hold about the property and the land around it. The most important of these, the Local Authority Search, is answered using data held by the council responsible for that address. Because each council maintains its own records and processes, both the information available and the time it takes to return a search can vary considerably from one area to the next.

That variation is the single biggest cause of avoidable delay in a property transaction. Two identical purchases, a few miles apart but in different local authority areas, can be weeks apart on searches alone. Understanding how your specific council performs, and ordering early, is the most effective thing a buyer can do to keep a purchase on track.

Why searches differ by local authority

Councils differ in staffing, digitisation of records and backlog. Some return official searches in a few working days; others take several weeks. Regulated searches, which draw on the same underlying data but are produced to a consistent national format, often move faster and are accepted by the vast majority of lenders. We track and publish current turnaround times for every area so you can plan around them.

Check the current timescales for your area

Our search turnaround tool lets you select any local authority in England and Wales and see the latest official and regulated turnaround times, updated fortnightly. Use it before you instruct, so you know what to expect and can order in good time.

Order searches for any postcode

You can order a full regulated search pack, covering the Local Authority, Environmental and Drainage & Water searches your conveyancer needs, for any address in England and Wales directly with us. Ordering yourself, at the start of your transaction, is the single most effective way to avoid search-related delay, and every order is retained in your Property Searches Direct account.

Prefer to talk it through first? Our turnaround tool and Lender Checker help you confirm timescales and lender acceptance before you buy.

A reference for every local authority area

Our sister site, Buy Property Searches, maintains a detailed reference covering every local authority area in England and Wales, bringing together information that is otherwise almost impossible to find in one place. Each area has its own page, such as the Birmingham local authority reference, drawn from a live database linking out to the specific detail for that area. It's a genuinely useful resource for understanding what applies where you're buying, you can explore the full local authority reference for any area.