Search Acumen comments on the Building Societies Association’s latest Property Tracker
Mark Riddick, Chairman of Search Acumen, comments on latest BSA Property Tracker: “The return of optimism to the housing market is a welcome sign that we’ve waded through the seasonal slowdown and can expect another busy year in 2015. Today’s report from the BSA shows election year anxiety and fears of deflation have not put […]
Search Acumen launches ‘Title Intelligence’ for conveyancers using real time access to Land Registry data
First search provider to capitalise on Land Registry’s open data commitment on property boundary data INSPIRE data confirms freehold property boundaries with no need for time-consuming manual mapping of search orders Search Acumen has become the first search provider to capitalise on Land Registry’s open data commitment by launching its new ‘Title Intelligence’ digital reference […]
Search Acumen comments on the Infrastructure Act and the plan to digitise the Local Land Charges Register
Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director of Search Acumen, comments on the Infrastructure Act becoming law today which – among a raft of measures – will: allow Land Registry to create a digitised local land charges register that will improve access to data, standardise fees and improve turnaround times for property professionals and citizens enable Land Registry […]
Search Acumen sails through Legal Eye accreditation process as orders grow 180% year-on-year
Consistent service means client calls chasing overdue orders have been non-existent Search Acumen has been awarded the Legal Eye Quality Standard after impressing the assessment team with its approach to best practice, risk management and compliance. Confirmation of its ‘straightforward’ accreditation follows a month where inbound support calls from clients chasing overdue searches fell to […]
Search Acumen unveils “IntelliSearch” to deliver the first ‘step change’ in conveyancing searches for years (Topic of the Month – Process Management)
First year of business sees Search Acumen seize 2.5% market share Senior team using 30 years of experience to bring innovation to searches IntelliSearch technology already saving days of admin and processing time Search Acumen has unveiled ambitious plans for using new technology to deliver a ‘step change’ in conveyancing search service, speed and accuracy. […]
Search Acumen launches first phase of IntelliSearch – Deductive technology will provide faster, more accurate property searches
Unique use of deductive technology automates quality assurance checks of search data Innovative approach to searches praised by Legal Eye Search provider Search Acumen has today unveiled “Deductive Technology” for conveyancing searches. It is the first phase of IntelliSearch: Search Acumen’s new unique suite of search products and services. IntelliSearch combines in-depth knowledge of the […]
Search Acumen prize winner donates £250 to children’s cancer charity
A children’s cancer charity has been chosen to benefit from a prize draw held by Search Acumen as part of its lead sponsorship at last week’s Legal Easel Conference in Birmingham, where the winner was given the chance to award a £250 donation to a charity of their choice. Phil Adam of Hooper Burrowes in […]
Search Acumen Goes from Strength to Strength
London, October 16th 2013: Search Acumen – the new business launched by Mark Riddick and Andrew Lloyd – is delighted to announce that Andy Sommerville is joining the business — this brings together three of the main players behind the creation and subsequent market dominance and leadership of SearchFlow. All three sold their stakes […]
Research reveals steep decline in planning permission for major residential developments
An analysis of government data by legal and property tech company Search Acumen reveals the number of planning permissions granted for major residential developments in England has declined by as much as 43% within the last decade. In 2024, 3,744 major residential developments were granted planning permission – significantly lower than peaks seen in 2016 […]
1 in 10 of UK’s Top 200 law firms using AI to improve accuracy and insight into CON29 searches
Search Acumen, a British pioneer of AI in legal tech, reports that its proprietary AI tool, Real Estate Intelligence (REI), has been used to analyse local authority search data by 20 of the UK’s top 200 commercial real estate law firms, four of which are in the top 20. Since launching in October 2024, REI […]
Search provider integrates AI-powered Title analysis tool into portfolio
An AI-powered Title document risk analysis platform for conveyancers has announced an integration with data provider Search Acumen. Avail specialises in using artificial intelligence to assess legal risk on property titles. The platform describes itself as a way to “simplify the search, purchase and analysis of HM Land Registry (HMLR) title documents, producing a range […]
Proprietor Name Check: a much-anticipated alternative to HMLR’s PN1 search
Join our Client Relationship Manager, Wilfred, as he demonstrates our Proprietor Name Check (PNC) solution, a fast, cost-effective and efficient alternative to HMLR’s PN1 search. Our product not only returns exact name matches, but also considers spelling variations allowing for close matches and typing errors to be retrieved within the results. Rather than charging per […]
SearchFlow Case Study: Real Estate, Fox Williams
Background Fox Williams is an independent, progressive law firm located in the City of London. It has a diverse client list ranging from entrepreneurs and start-ups to household names, PLCs and multinational companies. The firm is proud of its reputation as a “quality alternative” to the larger City firms and has established a reputation for […]
Further digitisation of property data in Stockport will cut search times
Property professionals can now access new data on highway extent and tree preservation orders in Stockport Further digitisation of search data will cut search times from 20 days to one Number of residential property transactions in Stockport fell 28% over the last year, down to 2,930 in 2020 from 4,082 in 2019, driven by the […]
Winner! Searches UK's Managing Director, Andrew Stenning is Entrepreneur of the Year
Searches UK are absolutely thrilled to announce their Managing Director, Andrew Stenning, was declared as Entrepreneur of the Year at The Sussex Business Awards on 3rd December. The Sussex Business Awards was a show stopping event drawing businesses from across the county to celebrate their triumphs and successes. Amongst the award winners was Andrew Stenning […]
Bill ends social housing sell-off, but it’s investors who must help Labour stop the slump
The latest ONS construction output data makes for uncomfortable reading if you care about the future of UK housing delivery. At precisely the moment when political rhetoric has never been stronger, the actual number of houses being built is collapsing, particularly in the part of the market where demand is most acute. Start with the […]
Property transactions ‘broadly in line with expectations’ as HMRC records 3% monthly fall
Property transaction trends are broadly in line with expectations, after the latest HMRC residential transaction numbers revealed a seasonally adjusted estimate of 101,030 transactions in April, 3% lower than last month. While the impact of the Middle East conflict continues to play a part in inflation and consumer confidence, there is still “strong intent” amongst […]
‘Context is everything’ in latest HMRC transaction figures
HMRC figures for seasonally adjusted residential transactions in March 2026 are 1% higher than February 2026, up to 104,070 from 102,750 – the highest monthly transaction figure since March 2025. Seasonally adjusted transaction figures are 41% lower than in March 2025. The large year-on-year decrease is driven by elevated transaction levels in March 2025 ahead […]
BoE interest rate hold ‘is cause for optimism’
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted by a majority of 8–1 to maintain Bank Rate at 3.75%. The hold has been welcomed as a sign of stability by some, with Jason Tebb, president of online property portal OnTheMarket, calling it a cause for optimism among borrowers. “As well as this, many […]
Revealed: MEES compliance slowing down, as energy bills increase
Energy compliance in the commercial real estate sector is slowing, new analysis has revealed. The volume of A, A+, and B EPC registrations, which are typically less energy-intensive and less affected by rising energy bills, had previously grown at a rate of 26% annually until 2024, but in 2025 this slowed to 20% [Table 1]. […]