Dear friend,
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) is the major trade association for the property search industry. Members provide a broad range of property information reports including local, drainage, water and environmental data, used extensively as part of the home buying process. In 2004, CoPSO members produced over 1.5m search reports and together seek to drive both market and product improvements to deliver the industry's vision of faster and better informed property transactions.
In this issue:
With Home Information Packs (HIPs) still scheduled for introduction in 2007, the race is now on to get the regulations drafted, consulted upon and laid before Parliament by the end of the year. The timetable is tight but not impossible. On 25 July 2005, the Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper, reiterated her commitment to the reforms and confirmed that a dry-run of the scheme will take place during 2006. Final consultations on the draft regulations are expected in early October, providing the green light for officials in settling the content of the pack and the long-awaited certainty for HIP providers on what information they will need to include.
CoPSO has represented the search industry on the Government's working groups looking at which searches should be included in the HIP and who can provide them. It has already been agreed that a local search, a search of the local land charges register and a drainage and water search must be included in each HIP. In addition, a coal mining search and the optional enquiries for a local search will be included where the property's location require this. A final decision has still to be taken on incorporating a contaminated land search, but its case for inclusion is strong:
It appears likely that all the search data in the HIP will be consolidated in a single report. Allowing both HIP providers and search companies freedom to devise the format, will result in search information which all the parties can easily understand and will be more cost-effective than a plethora of separate searche
On 21 September 2005, the Office of Fair Trading published their report on the property search market. This study was in response to complaints the OFT had received from search companies about the difficulties experienced in accessing property information from public bodies such as local authorities. CoPSO submitted detailed evidence to the OFT as part of the study and the OFT's main recommendations include:
Commenting on the report, CoPSO Chairman Fiona Hoyle said:
"The OFT's recommendations are extremely welcome as they will create a more competitive search market in advance of the introduction of HIPs in 2007, and will ensure that homebuyers receive information which is both comprehensive and value for money."
At the end of July, the OFT announced a further market study which will affect the search industry. This will examine whether the public sector has an unfair advantage selling on information in competition with companies who are reliant on the public sector for the raw data in the first place. CoPSO welcomes this further study and will be submitting evidence on how the market currently operates.
In spring 2006, CoPSO will introduce a search industry accreditation scheme. The development of the scheme underpins CoPSO's firm belief that, in the interests of consumer protection, only those search organisations which adhere to prescribed standards should be able to provide searches in HIPs. It also delivers on the industry's commitment to enhance standards across the sector.
The main features will be:
The scheme will be developed in consultation with the search industry, major stakeholders and consumer groups.
On 1 July 2005, the Re-Use of Public Sector Data Regulations came into force introducing fundamental changes to the way in which the public sector will need to facilitate access to the information it holds. The impetus behind the legislation is a recognition that public sector information is a valuable information resource that can be used by the private sector to develop value-added products and services. These reforms will have a direct impact on the way in which the search industry obtains data for inclusion in reports, with a move away from requesting information on a property-specific basis to the wholesale collection of data. CoPSO has appointed David Worlock as a consultant and an expert in this field to advise search organisations on how they can most effectively make use of this new data collection framework.
CoPSO is working with the Land Registry on the Connect Direct Pilot Scheme. This will provide search companies with direct access to Land Registry information on the same basis as currently offered to the NLIS channels. The pilot will run for six months and involve the design and development of a new business-to-business facility including a two-way messaging system using an XML schema for requests/responses and PDF files. The pilot will involve one CoPSO member, before being made available to the wider search industry.
The Property Information Systems Common Exchange Standard (PISCES) has begun development work on a common standard for use when electronically ordering the main searches used in conveyancing transactions. When search requests are in the PISCES format, the end result will be faster and more accurate searches as there will be no need for the manual transcription of data from one system to another. CoPSO firmly supports this initiative and is collaborating with PISCES on this project as the search industry makes increased use of electronic service delivery and in advance of the introduction of e-conveyancing.
COPSO is also involved in a joint venture with the Local Land Charges Institute, in developing a common platform for use by search companies so they can electronically order and receive searches undertaken by local authorities.
On 7 December 2005 CoPSO's conference ‘The Future of the Search Industry: Seizing the Opportunities’ will uniquely bring together the property search industry and stakeholders for the first time, to focus on the key issues affecting the search market and those organisations operating within it. With speakers from within both government and the search sector, the sessions will cover the HIPs reforms, the OFT's recommendations, the Re-Use of Public Sector Data Regulations, the industry accreditation scheme and the future of the property search market.
For further information on membership of CoPSO and the annual conference, please contact:
Fiona Hoyle
Chairman
29 Harley Street
London W1G 9QR
Email: info@copso.org.uk
Tel: 020 7927 6836
Mob: 07941 237 497
Website: www.copso.org.uk