Hackney Council is the very first local authority to confirm that searches will now miss the stamp duty holiday deadline.
The reason behind the announcement was due to an advanced criminal cyber attack which has left the Local Authority unable to process searches. The Council is now working with the National Cyber Security Centre and National Crime Agency to look into attack and get these restored. Therefore, Hackney have now recommend indemnity insurance as the only way to ensure completion before the 31st March 2021 deadline.
The cyberattack has affected systems and caused disruption across the Council, one of those services impacted are land searches and planning applications:
“The systems that the Council uses to process new planning applications and the land searches needed for property sales are affected.
“We are hoping to offer a partial land search service in the coming weeks, but we don’t expect to be able to offer full land searches to any resident before the end of the stamp duty holiday. We are therefore advising residents who need to complete a property purchase to speak to their lender or mortgage broker about taking out indemnity insurance. We will be contacting current applicants next week to tell them which elements of the land search we will be able to complete.”
Read the latest update here.
