Cyberattack Halts Property Searches, Threatening Home Sales in London Boroughs

A ‘sophisticated, criminal cyber attack’ has crippled property transaction workflows in two of London’s wealthiest boroughs, preventing thousands of home sales from moving forward. Westminster City Council and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea have been unable to process local authority searches since November, after shutting down systems to contain the breach. These searches are mandatory for most mortgage-backed purchases and a key risk mitigation step even for cash buyers.

For insurance claims adjusters, the situation illustrates how cyber events can trigger cascading economic losses beyond immediate data restoration costs. Delayed transactions affect buyers, sellers, lenders, brokers, and local governments dependent on fee and tax revenue. Claims tied to business interruption, cyber extortion, professional liability, and even contingent time element coverage may follow when critical third-party services go offline for extended periods.

The attack comes amid a broader rise in high-impact cyber incidents across the U.K., affecting retailers, manufacturers, and now local government. The councils are restoring systems cautiously with support from cybersecurity specialists, law enforcement, and the National Cyber Security Centre, but no firm resolution timeline has been given. Even once systems return, a significant processing backlog is expected, compounding delays.

From a claims perspective, this case reinforces the importance of understanding shared infrastructure risk, incident response planning, and the limits of cyber resilience at public-sector entities. It also highlights how cyber losses increasingly intersect with property markets, taxation revenue, and long-tail economic impacts rather than remaining confined to IT recovery costs alone.