CoPSO Challenges Michael Fallon
Press Release: 18 February 2014
COPSO CHALLENGES MICHAEL FALLON
Trade body believes that hidden agenda will create a privately owned monopoly.
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has today called for Michael Fallon to provide clarification of his long terms intentions for the Land Registry. The Minister of State for Business and Energy issued a written statement on 23rd January announcing that a consultation will be launched into a restructuring of the Land Registry. The stated intention is to create a new Government controlled company that would split the Land Registry operation from the role of the registrar. There has been already been speculation in the media that this is just a stepping stone to selling off the Land Registry.
At the same time as launching this consultation, the Land Registry is already consulting on expanding its regulatory powers and centralising the Local Land Charges registers that are currently maintained by all Local Authorities in England and Wales. Searches of the Local Land Charges registers are an important part of the home buying process.
CoPSO is concerned that centralising the Local Land Charges Register is just a way to fatten up the Land Registry to maximise the proceeds to the exchequer in the event of a sale. Such a move could be detrimental to home buyers and involve greatly increased costs and is not in the public interest.
James Sherwood-Rogers the chairman of CoPSO said ‘it is difficult to understand why the Land Registry is so keen to take over the Local Land Charges register unless it has an eye on privatisation. The current operation of the Local Land Charges register works perfectly well for home buyers. There is a competitive market between the public and private sectors in the provision of searches for conveyancing lawyers to progress property purchases for their clients and there is no demand from those lawyers for change. ‘
‘CoPSO would like the Minster to come clean on his long term intentions for the Land Registry so that there can be an informed debate on the merits of trying to fix something that is not broken. If the intention is to privatise the Land Registry there must be a serious question about the implications of centralising the Local Land Charges register. There are many examples of the creation of private sector monopolies that have ended up with poor service and high costs for consumers. When such a privatisation would involve the smooth operation of the housing market it must be a cause for serious concern.’
CoPSO will be engaging with stakeholders across the home buying spectrum over the coming weeks, including Local Authorities and Conveyancing lawyers, to gauge the appetite for progressing what would seem to be a reform that is entirely unnecessary.
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Notes to Editors
About The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO)
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) is the major trade association for the property search industry. Members provide a broad range of property search reports including local, environmental, mining, chancel repair, drainage and water data and undertake over 2 million searches each year.
The membership includes water companies, environmental search providers and organisations offering local searches. Today, CoPSO members produce 80% (by volume) of all searches produced in the market.
About the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB)
Formed in 2006, the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) is an independent compliance body. Its primary role is to maintain a register of firms that choose to subscribe to the Search Code of Practice and to independently monitor their compliance with the Code. Subscription to the Code is not mandatory but the vast majority of search products in the market are produced by Code subscribers. PCCB is a not for profit organisation with a public interest majority on its Board and is funded entirely from the subscription fees paid by registered firms.
The Search Code
The Search Code provides protection for homebuyers, sellers, estate agents, conveyancers and mortgage lenders who rely on the information included in property search reports undertaken by subscribers. The Code sets out minimum standards which organisations compiling and selling search reports have to meet.
Organisations providing property search reports can subscribe to the Search Code as either a retailer or a compiler. The Property Codes Compliance Board maintains a register of all subscribing firms. You can check whether a search firm subscribes to the Code by searching the Register or by looking for the Search Code logo on their products.