Solicitors have two options when they need a local authority search. They can order it from the council. Or they can order it from you.
Understanding the difference — and being able to explain it clearly when a solicitor or their client asks — is part of the job. So is knowing what your responsibilities are on the regulated side.
The basic difference
An official search is produced by the local authority. Council staff answer the CON29 enquiries, the LLC1 comes from the register, and the search goes back to the solicitor under the council's name. If the council gets something wrong and it causes loss, there's a statutory right to claim compensation from the local authority.
A regulated personal search is produced by you. You access the same public records the council would use, compile the answers, and return the result. Your professional indemnity insurance is what backs it — not a statutory guarantee.
Both cover the same documents. Both are accepted by most lenders. The difference is who does the work and what happens if something goes wrong.
The liability question — and why it's less frightening than it sounds
The statutory guarantee on an official search sounds like the gold standard. In reality, making a claim against a local authority for a search error is not a quick or simple process. Councils have legal resources and timelines of their own.
A PI insurance claim — your insurer compensating for an error in your search — is a private process. It's often faster and more straightforward. There's no formal ruling that the two routes are legally equivalent — an official search carries the local authority's backing, a regulated search the firm's PI cover. But most residential lenders accept regulated searches (acceptance is set lender by lender in the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook), which is why the market shifted to them.
This doesn't mean errors don't matter. They do. It means the fear of "but it doesn't have a statutory guarantee" is not a reason to lose business to the council queue.
Search Code: the non-negotiable
If a solicitor's lender requires their search to be accepted, and you're not Search Code registered, your search won't be accepted.
That's the short version.
The Search Code is sponsored by CoPSO (the Council of Property Search Organisations) and independently monitored by the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB). Subscribing requires you to hold adequate PI insurance, follow a defined complaints process, and meet quality standards for the searches you produce. It's a voluntary code — but without it, you're locked out of the majority of the residential conveyancing market.
IPSA membership is separate. It's your industry trade body — useful for professional credibility, networking, and keeping up with what's changing. Search Code is the commercial gateway.
If you're not currently registered under both, that should be the first thing you fix.
Where you win — and what you should never give back
Your advantage over the official search route is speed. Almost always.
Official search turnaround depends on the council. It can be two working days. It can be six weeks. It can be longer during peak market periods. There's no obligation on a council to meet any particular standard.
You're not in that queue. A well-run personal search firm returns most searches in 24 to 72 hours. Sometimes same day. For a solicitor managing a transaction where the buyer is ready to exchange and the search is the last piece, that speed is the whole reason they're using you instead of the council.
The minute your turnaround slips — because of process problems, because you're stretched, because nobody's watching the chase queue — you start to lose that advantage. And the solicitor starts to wonder whether the council might actually be more reliable.
"Speed and accuracy. That's the product. That's what solicitors are paying for. The moment you can't deliver both, you're not competitive with the official route anymore. And the official route doesn't have to do any sales — it's just there."
— Valerie Bennett, Personal Search Veteran · June 2026
A note on lenders
Most major lenders accept Search Code-registered regulated searches without restriction. A small number of specialist lenders — some buy-to-let products, some bridging finance — still specify official searches for certain transaction types.
The solicitor should check the lender's handbook for every transaction. If a lender requires an official search, that instruction needs to be followed. Substituting a personal search where an official search is required is not a grey area.
For your operation, the practical implication is that you occasionally lose a search order because the lender won't accept your work for that specific deal. That's fine — it's a small share of the market and the solicitor should know upfront. What you don't do is produce a regulated search without checking whether it will be accepted.
What makes a well-run search operation → · For solicitors → · Valio features → · Which searches are mandatory →