Search Standards Sustained as Code of Practice sets the quality agenda

Press Release: 1 October 2011

Following the abandonment by the Coalition Government of the ill fated HIPs legislation in June 2010 it became incumbent upon the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) to ensure that standards in searches remained robust. That was the clear message from CoPSO when it published a revised Search Code in late 2011. Since that time CoPSO has put in place a robust framework to ensure that this vital self regulation of search standards is maintained.

The Search Code, which is owned by CoPSO, is a voluntary self-regulatory framework which is designed to ensure the highest level of consumer protection and quality of information in search reports. All Code subscribers are subject to robust compliance checks and the searches they produce are backed by comprehensive insurance – protecting not only the consumer but 3rd parties to the transaction - with independent redress to the Property Ombudsman should problems arise.

In recent months CoPSO has been working closely with the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) to ensure that the code is actively and rigorously enforced. Subscribers have been given very clear and demanding Compliance Notes on what is required of them. Further. the processes around new subscriber applications and the annual existing subscriber renewals have been significantly tightened.

CoPSO Chief Executive, Mike Ockenden, said:

“The CoPSO Search Code has always been the ‘Gold Standard’ for searches and consumers and their lawyers need only look for the logo to ensure they receive a high quality, reliable, insurance-backed product. Our focus now is on rigorous enforcement of the provisions of the Code and subscribers are expected to maintain the exacting standards in every report they produce”

“The Code allows conveyancers, lawyers, lenders and home buyers to differentiate between products and providers on the basis of quality and reliability. There can be no room for cowboy operators in the search industry and we will do all we can to protect consumers and all other stakeholders from exposure to them”.

CoPSO members produce over 85% of searches for residential property transactions and all search reports prepared by them comply with the provisions of the Code. Only searches produced by Code subscribers are accepted by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and the Building Societies Association (BSA) and the majority of their member lenders. This is because they are of a demonstrably higher quality than non-Code backed reports. In recent spot check exercises carried out by Trading Standards across the country, it was found that 3 out of 4 searches exceeded expected levels of best practice whilst non-Code backed searches were revealed to be substantially non-compliant.