"A growing number of lenders are either reviewing their acceptance of search indemnity policies or are already accepting them, in light of the growing delays within many Local Authority’s search departments."
The matrix is available to view for free via the Paradigm Mortgage Services website and contains information on which lenders on Paradigm’s panel currently accept search indemnity insurance for purchase and remortgage business.
Paradigm is providing this information to advisers as lenders respond to delays in the provision of Local Authority searches. Due to changing working practices caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in demand brought about by greater levels of housing transactions, the length of time it takes to receive search information is growing across a large number of Authorities.
In the lead-up to the end of March deadline for the stamp duty holiday, a growing number of lenders are now accepting search indemnity insurance in order to help cases progress through to completion in a quicker timescale, allowing purchasers to benefit from the stamp duty saving.
Christine Newell, mortgage technical director at Paradigm Mortgage Services, commented: “A growing number of lenders are either reviewing their acceptance of search indemnity policies or are already accepting them, in light of the growing delays within many Local Authority’s search departments.
"Each lender however also has different policies and expectations in place, and this new Paradigm lender matrix not only outlines the approach taken but provides further detail for advisers to utilise in order to progress their cases.
"The expectation is that the next few months in particular will be incredibly busy and we believe all advisers will benefit from access to this information in one place which is why we have made the matrix available to all. We will update this regularly and hope advisers’ ability to see this information will help them in moving their cases through the pipeline more quickly.”
