Bracknell Forest Council has been unable to conduct land checks on behalf of buyers following the botched upgrade, sending the local authority’s system into what reports have described as ‘chaos’. Buyers have been left waiting months for the checks to be done. The Labour-run council said the problem was first realised in mid-January. The council said it wasn’t sure when the problem would be resolved. Bracknell Forest Council said it was re-configuring data for its register, which is the main cause for the disruption. The council stated there is no workaround and it is not possible to revert temporarily to a manual process. The council was unable to confirm a specific date for the restoration of the service.
Local estate agent Kevin Winchester said the system issue was affecting people financially and putting dozens of housing chains in danger of collapse. According to Daily Express - UK News, Kevin Winchester described the delays as massive and said that time-dependent moves would miss deadlines with no solution available. First-time buyer Mike Cox, 28, said his life has been put completely on hold while waiting for the land search results since mid-February. According to Daily Express - UK News, Mike Cox described the situation as 'hell', noting that the longer it goes, the more he spends on rent and dips into savings.
It's causing a massive delay in transactions. We're having to tell people that if it's a time-dependent move, you're going to miss that deadline and there's nothing we can do about it.
The longer it goes, the more money I'm spending on rent and the more I'm dipping into savings. It's hell.