Guide to Searches
It is very important to consider the type of search information you will receive for your property purchase and to understand the scope and limitation of the usual property purchase conveyancing searches used by solicitors as they relate to the property you are buying.
Limited Scope of Local Authority Search in the Home Information Pack (HIP)
Often sellers’ solicitors and Estate Agents use a personal local authority search in the HIP. This is allowed by the HIP Regulations legislation, as it produces a cheaper HIP for the person providing it – the seller or Estate Agent – but often unfortunately not the best quality HIP information for your property purchase. Good conveyancing practice is for conveyancing solicitors to obtain an official search from the local authority for every property purchase. Local authorities do not guarantee the accuracy of a personal search and will often not provide the same amount of information – for example Building Control history is often not provided in a personal search and important information about the property purchase may therefore be missed out and not available to the solicitors and the buyers.
We would therefore recommend you to consider having your own official Local Authority Search undertaken if one is not included in the HIP for your property purchase.
Please also be aware that some mortgage lenders will not accept a personal local authority – if you are having a mortgage for your property purchase an additional official search may be required even if you would not otherwise opt for one on the property you are buying.
You should note that the search undertaken at the local authority only relates to the purchase property. Whilst it will give information about any highways development proposals within 200 metres of the purchase property it will not give any information whatsoever about planning applications and development proposals made in respect of any adjoining property or land in the vicinity of the purchase property. This is one of the reasons why it is now possible for buyers to ask for a separate planning review search to be undertaken before exchange of contracts for the property they are buying.
Planning Review
The Planning Review simply gives details of recent planning applications made in the vicinity of the property you are buying – it will generally contain information from the local government registers that may be a few weeks old at the date of the enquiry i.e. we cannot guarantee that it will be up to date – as the search provider does not get real time information from the local authority as to ongoing applications. Nonetheless it will generally provide a good overview about what planning applications have been made in the vicinity of the purchase property in the recent past as well as giving some more general information about services and facilities in the locality of the property you are buying.
Environmental Matters
Home buyers should be aware of the potential liabilities of property purchasers under government legislation. Local authorities are obliged to inspect contaminated sites and may require property owners to rectify problems. Unfortunately the information provided by the local authority in its search replies will not necessarily be definitive in stating whether or not the land you wish to purchase is contaminated.
We will usually ask the seller if the seller is aware of any contamination affecting the property you are buying but the property sellers may not know. While the probability of contamination in a normal property purchase transaction may be relatively low, because the cost of rectifying any problem can be high, and may even exceed the value of the property you are buying, it is always prudent to consider having an independent Environmental Search carried out on the property you are buying before you exchange contracts for your purchase.
We can arrange a desktop Environmental Search on your purchase property. Please note that the information provided is for guidance only based on a range of statutory and public records and that the search provider therefore seeks to exclude liability for any inaccuracies contained in the search reply. Note that the search provider does not physically inspect the purchase property before providing the report on the property you are buying which is compiled electronically.
The search should give an overview as to whether there are any historical land uses associated with the purchase property or the locality which might give rise to risks in the property purchase – if so further enquiries and specific tests may be necessary.
Chancel Repairs
It is possible that the purchase property is in an area where there is a potential liability to contribute to the cost of repairing the local church. This is a liability which can attach to land which formally belonged to a church or priory. Historically, when the church sold land off it often imposed a liability to contribute to future maintenance costs. There is no definitive public record of liabilities and modern urban as well as older rural properties are equally potentially liable, although the actual liability only attached to a relatively few properties.
A recent case in Warwickshire went to the House of Lords, where the House of Lords confirmed that the property owners were liable to contribute over £100,000.00 to the cost of maintaining their local church, even though they were unaware of the liability at the time of their property purchase.
The standard way of dealing with this in modern property purchase transactions is for a buyer to check whether there is a potential liability and if necessary take out an insurance against the possibility that there may be such a liability. We can normally arrange a specialist insurance policy where necessary. We suggest that all property buyers should undertake a preliminary chancel check to establish whether insurance would be recommended.
Drainage and water
The Home Information Pack for your purchase property will contain a drainage and water search which will give information about the nearest public sewer and mains water connections to the property you are buying. This information is important from the legal point of view in order that we can check that the purchase property has the benefit of any necessary legal rights to connect into the mains across any intervening private land. If the purchase property has private drainage we will want to try to establish the age and type of system and whether it is working satisfactorily – usually by asking the property seller questions. It is always a good idea to consider whether to have a private drainage system independently checked by a specialist drainage expert before you exchange contracts for the purchase of the property.
Mining
In some parts of the country it is necessary to check whether there is any history of mining which might have an adverse impact on the purchase property. The Coal Authority keeps records of coal mining areas, and there are specialists in other areas – such as Cornish Tin Mining – who can generally provide reports as necessary for any particular risk area in relation to your property purchase.
