Home buyers 'in limbo' after land search delays

Many property sales in a town are on hold indefinitely due to council delays in carrying out land searches, an estate agent has said.

Some clients in Bracknell, Berkshire, have been waiting nearly two months for searches which normally take three or four weeks, according to Ryan Bloomfield of Avocado Property.

He said people were "in limbo", with no news about when the issue will be resolved.

Bracknell Forest Council said a change of computer system had caused the problem, which had been "escalated for urgent action".

Land searches are carried out by local authorities to alert potential buyers to issues such as planning restrictions, local developments and environmental factors.

The government target for completion is 10 days but the worst council in 2025 took 45 days, according to the HomeOwners Alliance.

Bloomfield, from Avocado Property in Bracknell, said: "The last few weeks have been really frustrating for many of our clients who are trying to move home.

"I think the main anger towards the situation is not the fact it has happened.

"It is more the lack of transparency and the silence from the council, who have not explained what has happened, or been able to provide any credible update on when the matter will be sorted.

"Clients are literally stuck in limbo, unable to plan their move as no timescales are presented."

The delays started when the council started to send data to a new computer system in January, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Jo Male, the council's assistant director for planning, told the LDRS the authority was working with its system supplier to resolve the issue.

She said: "We are very sorry that this has caused local house buyers delays. We are doing everything we can to get the situation resolved."

The supplier, named by LDRS as Arcus Global, has been approached for comment.