Property enquiries services customer charter

One-stop Property Enquiry Service covers key functions in the process of buying or selling private property, domestic or commercial within South Ayrshire Council. The service is delivered from The Office Services section located within the County Buildings Ayr.

There are five other services that provide in the delivery of Property Enquires:
Planning, Building Standards, Environmental Health, Roads and Water.

Service and quality

South Ayrshire Council offers a one-stop Property Enquiry Service, specially tailored to the needs of local solicitors and agents.

We guarantee our reports to be of the highest quality. Our team of professional experienced officers can assist you with:

• Planning
• Building Standards
• Environmental Health
• Housing
• Roads
• Water and Sewerage

Comprehensive service

We offer other search services such as:

• "Letters of Comfort"
• Copies of Building Warrants
• Copies of Completion Certificates
• Copies of Planning Consents

Accurate reports

Professional qualified staff who have experience and expertise of the local area provide all our answers.

Our basic report is as follows:

Local Authority Property Enquiry

Includes Planning, Environmental Health, Housing, Building Standards and Roads.
Water and Sewerage Property Enquiry.

Full Property Enquiry

Includes both local authority and water and sewerage.

Extra Special Service

We offer an enhanced fax service to speed up your enquiries giving quicker access to the information the search has revealed.

A principal report will also be sent to you by post the same day. Most enquiries can be answered within three working days.

Moving with technology we can receive and send responses via email and welcome this type of enquiry if it helps the process, whilst retaining reliability.

Competitive costing

We understand the need for competitive costing in today's property market and our prices are geared to reflect that need. (No additional VAT is payable on our prices).

Helpline

Want to know more?
To find out about any aspect of our Property Enquiry Service contact us by:

Telephone: 01292 01292 612914
Email: pservice@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Post: Property Enquiry Service,
South Ayrshire Council,
Development, Safety and Regulation,
County Buildings,
Wellington Square,
Ayr, KA7 1DR.

All our reports are covered by the Authority's professional indemnity insurance for the protection and security of you and your clients.

Service standards

When you contact us either in writing or by email we will:

• Endeavour to deal with property enquires within 3 working and searches within 7 to 10 working days of receipt.
• Try to give you a full reply with as much information as possible.
• Observe privacy and confidentiality in all matters.

When you contact us by telephone:

• We will give our name and section when answering the telephone.
• We will try to deal with your telephone enquiry at the time or pass you to an officer who can.
• If the person you need to speak to is not available, you can choose to speak to someone else who can help. If you leave a message we will get back to you within 1 working day.

You can expect us to:

• Be courteous and professional at all times.
• Give you as much information and immediate advice as possible.
• Observe privacy and confidentiality in all matters.
• Monitor and evaluate our performance.
• Give you a quality service at all times.
• Process all applications for Property Enquires and Searches in line with procedures and time limits.
• Deal with your request for information, as promptly as possible.
• We will try and deal with your telephone enquiry at the time or pass it to a officer.

Who can help?

As South Ayrshire Council must adhere to all relevant polices and legislation, a favourable response may not be guaranteed.

What you can do to help

• When you submit an application for a Property Enquiry provide a map or plan if the property is rural.
• When submitting an application for a Letter of Comfort please provide as much information about the alteration and the year it was carried out at the property.
• If requesting copy Building Warrants or Planning Permissions try to provide reference numbers as this can greatly speed up this process.
• Behave in a considerate and polite way so we can give you the standard of service you would expect.
• Provide the information we ask for when we ask for it. This will help speed up the process.
• Please be patient as there will be times when we are exceptionally busy. We will however, make every effort to keep waiting times to a minimum.

What if I am not satisfied?

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please contact us and we will try to resolve any problems quickly and explain what we have done and why.

If we do not respond satisfactorily, you can take your complaint further by using our feedback procedure. You can get a leaflet titled 'Help Us To Get It Right' directly from ourselves or from any South Ayrshire Council office. Alternatively you can phone 0300 123 0900 or email customerservices@south-ayrshire.gov.uk. You can also use this procedure for comments, suggestions and complaints about other South Ayrshire Council services.

Any suggestions?

We hope you will find this information helpful and that we continue to meet the standards we have set. Please let us know what you think by using our feedback procedure or by contacting us directly.

How and when you can phone or visit us

One Stop Property Enquiries
Property And Enterprise
5th Floor
Burns House
Burns Statue Square
Ayr
Telephone: 01292 612914
Email: pservice@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Website: www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/property-enquiry-service

Opening hours:
Monday - Thursday: 8:45am - 4:45pm
Friday: 8:45am - 4:00pm