SAAS

EXCLUSIVE: Searches go missing, house sales fall through, and a 5G mast erected by mistake

Three UK councils have hit problems processing planning applications and land searches following a systems migration to a new software-as-a-service provider.

Local citizens have suffered the consequences such as house sales falling through, the installation of a 5G mast in a conservation area cricket club, and hundreds of stalled land searches following a migration from previous systems to an implementation of software-as-a-service from Arcus Global.

Denis Kaminskiy, Founder and Director of Arcus Global said: "Arcus Global provides robust and high-quality software using leading cloud computing technologies. Since 2017 we have built up more than 60 local authority customers through open tenders and receive high scores for our functionality and performance. We believe we have the best product on the market and strengthen that advantage through continuous investment.

"However, we are often replacing complex legacy systems with data that can be up to 30 years old. Wherever problems are identified we work rapidly with our customers to resolve any issues," Kaminskiy said in a statement to The Register.

Nestled on the south coast of England, Havant Borough Council signed up with Arcus Global in 2024 to deploy its software for planning and land charges to take over from the planned termination of a hosting arrangement with Capita.

Following the implementation, local residents complained of corruption of planning data, including comments on planning applications and lost files.

The Register has seen evidence of the sale of a house worth more than £1 million falling through because the necessary land searches could not be completed on time.

In an email seen by us, one officer admitted his team had been working with limited access to records affecting communications and decisions during the planned downtime. Officers also experienced challenges with the new system.

In a paper [PDF] presented to the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee in February 2026, the council said there had been a "number of post-implementation issues" including "data integrity inconsistencies, reporting limitations and user interface challenges."

"It quickly became apparent that the Land Charges module was not performing as expected and required a major overhaul. It was therefore agreed that the fastest and most effective route to operational stability was to engage the supplier's expertise to undertake a full reconfiguration and data re-migration," it said.

The council has not responded to The Register's request for a statement.

Another Arcus implementation at Bracknell Forest Council also struggled, leading delays to about 500 property transactions stemming from a backlog of land searches. According to the BBC, the commuter-belt local authority said there were 695 outstanding search requests in mid-April, including 480 personal searches and 215 official local authority searches.

A council cabinet member told a council meeting the system "went live at the point required" but had not delivered the expected "readiness, resilience and reliability."

Peter Dewsbury, Arcus Global CEO, told the BBC: "We are aware of the disruption to the land charges service at Bracknell Forest Council. "Arcus staff are working constructively with the council's team to restore a comprehensive service as soon as possible."

On April 16, the council and the supplier issued an apology, saying "unexpected and significant data issues occurred meaning the service could not return accurate and full results, which is unacceptable for people buying and selling property locally."

In 2024, the London Borough of Haringey admitted it approved a contentious planning application to allow the erection of a 5G phone mast in a conservation area at Crouch End's Hornsey Cricket Club in error.

The council had been set to turn down the proposed "visually intrusive" development, due to objections from locals, and the cricket club itself, but it refused the application a day late, according to regulations.

A council cabinet member apologized for the error, and put it down to "an unforeseen glitch in our planning team's IT system at the time." She said the problem had been rectified.

Arcus Global celebrated its contract win with Haringey Council in 2022.

A council spokesperson said: "The council took responsibility and apologized for this unfortunate error at the time, which arose due to an unexpected way in which the Planning Team's IT system functioned.

"The issue was resolved back in 2024, and robust safeguards are in place to significantly reduce the likelihood of a recurrence.

"Haringey Council has a strong track record of challenging inappropriate developments, including those submitted under permitted development rights. All planning decisions are subject to appeal.

"Our Planning Team processes more than 2,000 applications each year, and instances of error are rare," the spokesperson said. ®