“[It] should not be forgotten that the property market in England and Wales continues to function in a way which has been judged to be more cost efficient than most systems elsewhere in the world, albeit not as speedy as many.”
This is a comment included in a report published this week on the DCLG website (but not forming part of Government policy) on the the scale and nature of problems surrounding local authority searches. To read the report, see http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/localpropertysearches.pdf