This article gives information on local authority hot issues that affect services such as delivery of searches 

Products Affected:

• Official Local Authority Search
• Regulated Local Authority Search

Reason:

• Local Land Charges have informed us of a software upgrade between Monday 26th January 2026 to Monday 2nd February 2026. Searches submitted after 5pm on Friday 23rd January 2026 will not be accepted until Tuesday 3rd January 2026 and no searches will be returned during the system downtime.

Update 16/06/2026:

• Following the update issued on Wednesday 10th June 2026, Local Land Charges have confirmed that searches are now being processed. They have also advised that searches are accepted prior to being returned, which explains the absence of acceptances since confirmation that services have resumed.
  
  We will continue to monitor the situation closely and ensure that acceptances are received in due course.
  
  Local Land Charges will be working strictly in date order to reduce the backlog caused during the downtime.

Expected Delay:

• The current turnaround time remains at 110 working days and will be reviewed on a weekly basis.

Options:

• What we can offer is to provide a search delayed indemnity policy. If you would like to proceed with this option, then please send us the limit of indemnity so we can provide you with an accurate quote. Otherwise, we will keep chasing the Local Authority and have the completed search back with you as soon as possible. 
• Follow this article to be alerted of updates as we receive them