Personal Legal Services » Conveyancing Solicitors » Searches and Surveys
When you buy any property in England and Wales there is a huge amount of information that has to be obtained about the property.
Firstly there is all the legal documentation that has to be considered and approved, secondly the state of the property has to be checked by a surveyor producing a home buyer’s report or building survey and thirdly there is a whole host of information that has to be gathered and checked which is provided by various agencies, some being government agencies and others being private agencies. In order to gather all that information on your behalf, we have to carry out “searches”, and you have to decide whether to commission a survey (home buyer’s report or building survey).
Searches
At first sight this is a slightly odd subject. Who is searching for what?
With the quotation that you receive there will be a section headed “searches” which tells you how much it will cost you (including VAT) to have all the searches carried out on your behalf. There are four types of search which we will conduct for every single residential purchase in England and Wales unless we have advised you that the search is not necessary or you have advised us that you do not want a particular search carrying out.
Local Authority Search
Local Authorities have a statutory duty to maintain all sorts of information about the properties within their area. The search will deal with, for example, the adoption of public highways, details of planning applications made on the property and any outstanding charges which are due to the Local Authority, for example for work which they have carried out on the property. It is essential to have a clear search before you proceed. We will advise you if the search is not clear.
Please note that the search relates only to the particular property and will not disclose planning applications and matters relating to adjacent properties.
Water and Drainage Search
You will need to be sure that the foul and surface water drains into a public sewer and whether the property has a water supply. You will also need to know whether there is a public sewer running through the property. Again we will advise you if there are any issues arising from this search.
Mining Search
If the property is in an area where there has been mining in the past (and this covers many areas where you think there would be no mining), it is important to know whether mining activity has potentially caused problems with the ground stability and also important to know whether there any mine shafts within the location of the property. Again we will advise you if there are any problems.
Environmental Search
As the owner of a property you may be acquiring a liability to carry out costly remediation work on contaminated land even if the contamination was caused a long time ago and was not your responsibility. An environmental report will provide you with a certificate indicating the level of risk. We will send you the environmental report to discuss with your surveyor if you wish.
Other Important Issues
Chancel Repair (what on earth is this?)
In a famous court case, the owners of a cottage were held liable to pay the sum of £185,000.00 plus VAT to the local parish church to assist with the repair of the church building. Every property in England and Wales falls within a parish and every property therefore has a minute but actual possibility of being within a parish where there is some responsibility to pay for the repair of the chancel. Unfortunately the information about properties affected is very difficult to obtain, other than at great expense. The application of chancel repair charges is random and grossly unfair, so efforts are being made by The Law Society and others to change the law. In the meantime every property owner in England and Wales has a theoretical risk of being liable for the repair of the local Parish Church. As a Client of this firm you are automatically insured against this risk under our Clients’ Block Insurance Policy, provided that the property you are purchasing is worth £2,000,000.00 or less.
Other Searches
There are a whole range of other searches and enquiries which can be made on your behalf. You may feel that you are swamped with information already but you are of course buying an
expensive item so investing your money in a secure asset is critical. The following additional searches can be carried out as follows:-
(a) Common Land Search. If the property you are buying is adjacent to common land or
a village green, a search is essential, cost approximately £30 plus VAT..
(b) Cheshire Brine Extraction and Cornish Mining searches, relevant if you are buying in
those areas.
(c) Groundsure Planning search – This report highlights likely planning and development changes within the vicinity of a residential property including house extensions and small and large developments within the last 7 years. This search can be obtained at a cost £50 plus VAT.
You may also want to visit the following site for information which will give you an indication of any flooding risk issues within the area that you are buying:
Surveys
Surveys (not to be confused with searches) are carried out to check whether the building is in a satisfactory condition.
Mortgage lenders will always carry out a valuation on the property on which they are lending before they offer a mortgage. A valuation is normally carried out at the borrower’s expense and some lenders will provide a copy of the valuation to the borrower. It must be noted that a valuation is done entirely for the benefit of the lender and can not be relied upon by a buyer as a guide to the state of the property. It is merely carried out to make sure that the lender is satisfied that they will be able to recover the money which they have lent.
The purchaser of any property should therefore give serious consideration to organising their own survey. Some lenders will give the buyer the option of having the survey carried out at the same time as the valuation but if not, we can assist you with arranging for a local surveyor to do the survey.
There are basically two forms of survey as follows:-
Homebuyers Report
This will cost more than a valuation but is cheaper than a building survey (see later). A homebuyers report will advise a buyer whether there are any major defects and problems which
might affect the value of the property. The main purposes of the report are to help the buyer assess whether the price agreed for the property is reasonable and whether or not there are any immediate repairs which need to be carried out once the property has been purchased.
Buildings Survey
This is more extensive and comprehensive than the homebuyers survey. It is suitable for all property especially ancient properties and those of unusual construction or in poor condition. The survey will include comprehensive information not only on major or minor defects but also on the construction and materials used in the property.
Wills
Once you have purchased a property, you will have a significant asset to add to any other assets that you may have. If you die without a Will, your assets may be distributed in accordance with the law and not your wishes.
It is therefore worth giving some consideration at this point to making a Will. Many people think they are too busy to make a Will while they are buying a house but it is an ideal time to deal with the issue.
If you make a Will:-
• You decide what happens to your assets on death
• If you are not married but you are sharing your life with another person, you may wish to
provide for your partner and/or children
• You may decide that you want to avoid paying any unnecessary Inheritance Tax.
