A ruling by an Information Tribunal will mean that conveyancing solicitors will be able to have free access to environmental search information rather than paying for it.
The tribunal decided that East Riding of Yorkshire Council should have permitted certain of its environmental records to be inspected free of charge by a private search company.
Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), local authorities are required to give the public access to records free of charge. However, they can make a charge for supplying a hard copy of the information.
The tribunal ruling reinforces this entitlement to free access, which some councils have been charging for in error, and could lead to reduced fees paid by and to conveyancing solicitors when conducting searches prior to commercial and residential property transactions.
