The purpose of a conveyancer is to ensure that when buying a property, you as the buyer are not going to be taking on any unexpected legal problems which could affect your use or ownership of the property, or which could cause problems when you come to sell it. To enable your conveyancer to provide you with the necessary legal information, they will need to carry out a number of ‘searches’ on the property you are looking to purchase.
What are searches?
Searches are a crucial part of the property buying process. Essentially, searches are enquiries your conveyancer makes to identify any potential problems with the property you are planning to buy. They are designed to protect the buyer from discovering serious issues with the property they are buying; at the point it is too late.
Why are they so important?
Searches are highly important as they provide essential information about the property you are buying and the local area. They can be the difference in the buyer deciding to proceed with the purchase, negotiate on price or even abort the transaction.
For example, if the house currently looks out on to beautiful countryside views but a planning application for a block of apartments has been proposed, a Planning Search would discover this. However, a Planning Search is not part of the standard searches, you would need to expressly ask your conveyancer to order a Planning Search.
Without searches, your mortgage lender (if obtaining a mortgage) will not release the funds and you will not be able to move forward with your purchase. In theory, cash buyers could purchase their property without searches, but this is highly risky and therefore not recommended.
What searches will my conveyancer carry out?
The three main searches we will carry out are:
1: Local Authority Searches. The searches will include:
- Are there any Planning Permissions or Building Regulations Approvals for the property?
- Is the property located in a conservation area?
- Is the property a listed building?
- What is the planning history of the property?
- Pending planning decisions on the property?
- Are there any environmental issues, such as the property being on contaminated land?
- Does the property abut a Public Highway?
- Have any planning enforcement notices been served on the property?
2: Environmental Searches. The searches will include:
- Risks of flooding
- Contaminated land – including landfill sites
- Risk of ground subsidence and factors such as soil type and trees close to the property
- Existing or proposed energy site
- Whether the property is at risk from Radon
3: Water and drainage searches. The searches will include:
- Drainage issues and distance/connections to sewers
- Connection to main water supply which would affect quality of drinking water and water pressure
- Searches about who is responsible for the sewerage and water services for the property
- Confirmation of whether a public sewer or drain runs through the property – if they do, you will not be able to build over or within 3 metres of such pipe
We can also provide you with a planning search. The searches will include:
- Residential and commercial planning applications – specific house extensions and larger scale projects
- Detailed planning project descriptions
- Primary and secondary school league tables in the local area
- Large location maps with data overlays
We will also alert you to any additional searches that we deem necessary to carry out on your property.
How can we help?
We provide conveyancing services which prioritise communication at each stage. We will complete your searches, review them, and then provide you with a detailed report of our findings which will include any potential issues with the property you are looking to purchase.
When it comes to moving home, time is often of the essence and a good conveyancer can make all the difference. Our conveyancers in Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough, Royal Wootton Bassett and Swindon will focus on three things: working promptly, being proactive and keeping in touch with you every step of the way.
