Just seven local authorities have had local land charges centralised, in a move to speed up conveyancing.

Trade body the Council of Property Search Organisations has expressed its disappointment at the speed that the Land Registry’s project is moving.

CoPSO said it was “entirely supportive” of the project and the objective of digitalising data and making it available in real time. It said that this was in keeping with the Government agenda to speed up the conveyancing process, and would also facilitate the potential for using the data productively much earlier in the home buying and selling process.

CoPSCO went on to name and shame the authorities which says “currently operate at the slowest speed, at the highest cost” and where there are concerns over the quality of data.

They are: Derby, Cheshire East, Lichfield, and Camden, in London.

Earlier this year, we reported that Derby was taking almost nine weeks to issue searches, while Camden was taking about 50 working days.

A notice on Camden Council’s website confirms it still has problems, saying: “Local Land Charges currently have a backlog of searches which has arisen as a result of staff shortages (a number of people left at short notice and we have had problems recruiting).

“We have appointed a new member of staff and another staff member will start shortly.

“We are seeking to rectify the backlog issue as quickly as possible and turn round searches as quickly as possible, but in the meantime please contact the Local Land Charges Team for urgent overdue search applications. We will endeavour to try and prioritise these.”