When you purchase a property your conveyancing solicitor undertakes a series of solicitor searches, but what are they?
If you are purchasing with a mortgage, searches will be required however, they are not mandatory if you are a cash purchaser, as it is your own funds that will be at risk. We would still recommend that you obtain searches if you are a cash purchaser as they provide important information about the property. If you choose not to, speak to your conveyancer about obtaining a No Search indemnity policy which will cover any loss sustained as a result of adverse entries which would have otherwise been revealed had a search been carried out.
Once a conveyancing solicitor has been instructed to carry out the conveyancing process on your property, they need to conduct a series of necessary searches which highlight issues that you need to be aware of before you own your new home. So, how many searches are there and what do these searches consist of?
Your conveyancing solicitor has six searches to conduct when you buy a property: Local authority searches, land registry searches, environmental searches, water authority searches, location specific searches, and chancel repair searches.
Local authority searches tend to be one of the first searches you’re your conveyancing solicitor will conduct. Your solicitor will look at the information held by the local authority regarding your property, including information surrounding any permissions or restrictions surrounding the property. Whilst local authority searches can take up to six weeks, they are exceptionally beneficial in learning the responsibilities you may have in maintaining the roads and paths adjoining the property.
Land registry searches prove that the seller of the property is in fact the legal owner of the property that that they have the right to sell it. your conveyancing solicitor will do this by checking both the ‘title register’ and ‘title plan’ at the Land Registry.
Environmental searches are conducted to establish whether the property you are buying was built in a safe way and in a safe space. Searches may find that the property you are looking to buy was built on or near contaminated land, or on an old landfill site; both of these come with many issues and may prevent you from wishing to purchase the property. You may find that your mortgage lender may insist that this search is done before they offer you a mortgage.
Water authority searches establish the water source for the property, and if there are any public drains on the property. The reason why it is important that a water authority search is conducted is because if it does find that there is a public drain on the property, it may prohibit or prevent any future developmental work from being done on the property.
Location specific searches, as the name suggests, are location specific. Depending on the property’s location, your conveyancing solicitor may suggest that you conduct a location specific search. For example, If you are purchasing a property in an area formerly used for mining, your conveyancing solicitor may suggest that you complete a specific mining search.
Chancel repair searches are necessary to highlight if purchasing your new home makes you liable for the cost of repairs to a parish church. You can read more about Chancel Repair Liability here.
Depending on the results of the searches and how quickly third party bodies respond to your conveyancing solicitor’s requests, the whole process can take a few weeks to complete. One of the searches may come back with information you and your conveyancer aren’t happy with, which may lead to further searches and extend the search period.
