What are searches when buying a house?

Property lawyer, Jenny Jinman, answers the question what are searches when buying a house, and takes a look at the common types of searches you may encounter.

When you purchase a property, the law applies the principle “Caveat Emptor”. This means “Let the Buyer Beware”. This places the onus on the buyer to find out as much information about the property, in that the law recognises that the seller has only a limited duty of disclosure. It is therefore essential that a conveyancing solicitor or lawyer makes all necessary searches when purchasing a property.

If buying with the assistance of a mortgage, your lender will usually insist that the following three searches are carried out as minimum:

Local Authority Search

The local search is made with the local authority. This will tell us among other things whether there are any compulsory purchase plans for the property, whether the road is a public highway and whether there has been any breach of planning control.

The Local Search relates only to the area of land being purchased. It does not reveal any issues falling outside the property and therefore if you are concerned or interested to learn of planning applications or entries relating to the areas lying outside the boundary, then you can have a further search carried out.

The local authority maintains a register of local land charges affecting the land within the area of the property. Land charges are public matters which affect the property and include the following:

• Financial charges – Examples of these would be charges to recover the cost of street works, or the cost of emergency repairs to unsafe buildings, or to recover some forms of improvement grant.

• Planning matters - These include conditions imposed after July 1977 on planning permissions, enforcement notices and tree preservation orders.

• The listing of buildings as being of special architectural or historic interest – this will enable you to know how you may develop and alter the property and the land surrounding it.

The Local Authority Search will also contain a list of enquiries of the local authority. This information will tell you about, amongst other things, proposals for development of the local area, whether the property is subject to any tree preservation orders etc.

Water and Drainage Search

The local water authority maintains information in respect of the water and drainage matters relating to the property. The purpose of the drainage & water search is to identify whether the sewers in your area are running through or around your property and if they are maintained privately or publicly. The results will indicate whether you are liable to meet or contribute to the costs of repair of sewers or private pipes and drains. Please, note that if private or public pipelines run close to the property this may also affect future development or extensions to the property.

The report will also confirm whether the property is connected to mains water and drainage, whether there is a public sewer within or outside the boundary of the property. If the public sewer is within the boundary of your property, dependent on its location, it may affect your ability to extend the property without appropriate agreements being entered into with the water authority or local council.

Environmental Search

The Environmental search is a postcode-based search carried out by a search company, who will give their opinion as to whether the Property passes a risk assessment with regard to its value as to whether or not it would be designated “contaminated land” as defined by section 78(A)2 of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If the property passes the risk assessment, a certificate will be provided confirming this. If the property does not pass the risk assessment, you would usually contact your Surveyor for advice and decide whether or not you would still wish to proceed to purchase the above property.

If the level of contamination on a particular area of land is inappropriate bearing in mind the current use to which that land is being put the local authority may serve a remediation notice on the property owner. If the person who contaminated the land cannot be found, the property owner will be required to “clean up” the land and the costs of a clean up operation are likely to be significant, running into many thousands of pounds

Further the report will indicate whether the land is situated for example, in an area of natural subsidence, or whether it is within an indicative flood plain. These are matters that may affect the value of your property.

Other searches

There are many other searches that can be carried out when buying a property and these could include:

• Highways Search: There may be small areas of land that are not identified as publicly maintained highways which may become a right of way dispute, while ransom strips can potentially affect property values and development potential. The search identifies where a property abuts a publicly maintainable highway and if there is any intervening land between the property and the public highway.
• Planning Search: As the Local Authority Search only provides details of planning which affects the property, it is common for clients to have a Planning Search carried out on the neighbouring land to identify any likely planning and development changes within the locality which could have significant impacts on the future valuation and enjoyment of a property.
• Coal Mining Search: Depending upon the area in which the property is being purchased there may be other searches that should be carried out for example a coal mining search. The purpose of the search is to reveal if the property is within an area of past or present coal mining, or indeed possible future mining. This is of major importance as coal mining causes subsidence which damages buildings.

Our large team of residential property conveyancers have a wealth of experience and can offer advice and help you through the process of buying your property, including through schemes such as help to buy, shared ownership or via the Right To Buy scheme.

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