If you are purchasing a property with the assistance of a mortgage, we are required by The Council of Mortgage Lenders to carry out all necessary searches. These searches include the following:-
Local Land Charges Search – this search is made on all properties and the most important information obtained from the search are details of planning applications and decisions, compulsory purchase orders, financial charges affecting the property, tree preservation orders and listed building charges.
Enquiries of the Local Authority – in addition to the information revealed by the Local Land Charges Search the replies to enquiries will reveal details regarding public maintenance of highways, smoke control orders, planning policy of the Council, any breaches of planning control and roadworks affecting properties
Commons Search – this search will be made where a property abuts a village green or common land, where a property is to be built on previously undeveloped land and where a verge strip separates the property from the public highway. The search will reveal whether the land is registered as common lane i.e it will not be possible to obtain planning permission on common land, third parties may have rights over the land i.e grazing rights
Mining Search – mining searches will be carried out where the property is situated in an area in which mining takes place or has done so in the past. The search will reveal the existence of underground workings which may cause subsidence problems and whether any compensation has been paid or claimed in the past or whether any claim is pending
Water Authority Search – this search will be made if the position of the water pipe or sewerage pipe is unclear or if there is any doubt as to whether the property is connected to mains water/drainage. The search result will confirm above and also provide a plan showing the position of the pipes
Environmental Search – environmental searches are carried out where there is concern about an environmental issue. The search will provide a complete site history and will reveal whether a property has been or is about to be built on old gas works, tanneries, factories or railways which may have contaminated the land and/or whether the land has been filled and was previously an old quarry, gravel pit or old canal
If you do not need a mortgage to purchase a property, you are not required to have all of the searches made against the property. It is however up to the purchaser of a property to find out as much as possible about the property before committing himself to a binding contract. Even if a client is not having a mortgage , we will always make the local land charges search mentioned above. We will also advise the client if we feel that any of the other searches mentioned are essential. The client should then advise us whether or not they would like us to carry out the searches on their behalf.
