Market Study on Property Search Market
The OFT announced on 8 December 2004 that it was to initiate a market study in the supply of property search information. This followed the OFT announcement that its investigation into pricing policies in the online property search sector concluded that there were no grounds for action under the Chapter II prohibition of the Competition Act 1998. In that investigation the OFT acknowledged that the market as a whole needed further in-depth study.
Property searches covering such areas as land ownership, environmental information and planning permission, form an essential part of buying a property. This information, held by a number of bodies – including local authorities, the Land Registry, the Register of Scotland, the Environment Agency and the Coal Authority – is obtained by conveyancers through three main routes on behalf of property buyers:
• via a direct application to the information holder
• through an electronic gateway, which conducts electronic searches of the database of the information holders; and
• through a property search company, which coordinates searches to provide an all-in-one package.
The OFT has received complaints from property search companies about difficulties in accessing property information from information holders – each of which has a statutory monopoly over the information they hold – and about competition in the market as a whole.
The OFT’s study focused on how consumers’ needs are met in terms of how information is collected, access to information, charges for this information, the structure of the market and regulation of the electronic gateway.
Note. The Housing Act 2004 places a requirement on sellers in England and Wales, or their estate agents, to provide a Home Information Pack when they start marketing a property. This requirement came into force in 2007. See Home Information Packs for further information.
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