UK News
Search Acumen, a pioneer in UK legal technology, has reported its unique local authority document reading tool, Real Estate Intelligence (REI), has digitally read and analysed more than 74,000 individual pages of local authority search documents.
The company estimates that this industry-first has given lawyers over 3,250 hours back in productive time for fee-earning, by replacing time traditionally spent on manual reviews of the documents.
A transformative tool for the handling local authority data in commercial portfolios, REI has become a standard feature of Search Acumen’s portfolio service.
Since its launch last November, REI has processed a total of over 3,000 standardised extracts from local authority search data, revolutionising how real estate lawyers tackle complex property portfolio deals in the commercial real estate and social housing markets.
Reviewing a commercial CON29 search now only takes 10-15 minutes using REI, which usually take 1 ¼ hours on average when processed manually, meaning commercial law firms are saving around 65 minutes per title, an 80% time save.
The largest commercial portfolio processed by REI contained 571 titles, spanning several local authorities, and is estimated to have saved the law firm 618 hours of reading time.
Commercial real estate lawyers after using REI have commended notable improvements in error reduction, scalability of portfolio processing, and time savings, reporting that automation has reduced the time required to analyse search reports by up to 80%.
Real estate lawyers’ growing use of digital tools signals a widespread appetite in the sector for a friction-free property market. The first quarter of 2025 has seen HM Land Registry restate its commitment to modernising its systems and creating a fully digital geospatial land register, which Search Acumen advised on, as well as establishing a Digital Property Market Steering Group.
Given the costs embedded in the current system, with UK law firms estimated to be losing up to £19.1 million annually due to avoidable mistakes in property applications, the adoption of AI-driven, automated tools like REI has become an urgent priority for property lawyers while the foundations for a digital land registry are still being set.
As from April 2025, the results processed by REI span 264 different local authorities, and REI has the capacity to handle searches in all of England and Wales’ local authorities. Currently, the highest volume of searches focused on Herefordshire (180), Stockton-on-Tees (122) and Walsall (109).
Commenting on the news, Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director at Search Acumen, said: “Within just six months, the benefits of digitalisation in commercial real estate have been proven by REI, the only AI-powered document reading tool of its kind.
“In an increasingly crowded market, efficiency has cemented its position as a key driver of profitability. Lawyers can no longer afford to stay behind the curve if they wish for their businesses to remain competitive.
“The expansion of digital solutions heralds a paradigm shift for the way we transact commercial property, bringing us closer to a frictionless real estate market that data savvy lawyers will be able to make the most of.
“We are delighted with all of the positive feedback for REI so far, as users share their examples of how the tool has transformed the way they manage large-scale projects. By reducing the time spent on manual review and analysis, the new generation of lawyers will be able to focus on delivering the most value to their clients through strategic decision-making.”
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