11.04.18
Council cuts waiting times for land searches by 8 weeks
Homebuyers in West Dorset are benefitting from faster land searches after a council implemented new measures.
West Dorset District Council put an improvement plan in place in 2016 to deal with a backlog of applications for conveyancing searches.
The high volume of requests was blamed on the backlog but new measures have improved waiting times considerably, with the council managing to reduce its search time from 10 weeks down to its target of 15 days on average.
The improvement plans included recruiting additional staff to process applications and improving the way relevant information was held.
A new IT system is also being introduced which should cut waiting times further.
Cllr Peter Barrowcliff, portfolio holder for corporate services at West Dorset District Council, said: “We’d like to thank people for their patience while we worked to reduce the length of time it took to complete searches.
“We always knew it would take time for the improvement plan to take effect. We are pleased to have achieved this well within our target date of April 2019.
“We now have an efficient process in place with further plans to improve our service in the coming months. This will help ensure our customers continue to receive a fast turnaround, which I’m sure will be welcome in speeding up the overall process of buying a house.”
Searches for North Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council are all also being processed within target.