The Government has acted quickly to counter criticism that many mortgage lenders are refusing to accept personal searches contained in Home Information Packs.

A spokesman for the Communities and Local Government said: “The vast majority of the major mortgage lenders — 9 out of the top 10 — do accept personal searches. Personal searches are not new — they have already operated successfully in the market for over a decade and currently make up around 45% of the marketplace.

“Solicitors therefore routinely accept these searches and in fact commissioned more than 650,000 personal searches on behalf of their clients in 2006 alone.

“The introduction of HIPs has in fact brought in stringent regulations for private search companies — compulsory insurance for private search companies, robust redress arrangements for buyers and sellers and financial protection in the event of a company going out of business. This significantly improves the protection for buyers and sellers compared to previous arrangements.”

The Government claims were given some support by Bernard Clarke of the Council of Mortgage Lenders who said: “I think that most lenders are already accepting [personal searches] and that as time goes on, as companies and lenders are persuaded that these private searches are just as reliable as those from local authorities, then more lenders will move to accept them.”