A Local Authority Search is usually submitted by your conveyancer / lawyer. The search will be submitted to the appropriate Local Authority and will ask about any details relating to planned development in the immediate area & disputes and road works that might affect the property.

The search will also make enquiries about whether the property is likely to have been built on land affected by mining or has a history of flooding.

Various rights might affect your property, such as public rights of way and easements for utility companies, such as power cables and telephone wires. You will also want to make sure that your property is not subject to other rights or obligations that might be discovered by searching Commons Registration or making an Environmental Search, Mining Search, Land Charge Register, etc.

In addition to searches, your conveyancer will also be making preliminary enquiries of the owner to establish the property’s history. It is important to do all you can to weed out any potential problems as the general legal assumption when buying property, namely ‘Caveat Emptor’ or ‘Buyer Beware’!

Contact us for more information or to speak to an advisor.

Recent posts

The chancellor will deliver her second budget this autumn. Due to slow economic growth and high inflation, the government need to manage a £40 billion shortfall in public finances. There have already been reports about changes to taxes including income tax and capital gains tax.

The chancellor has advised that landlords could have another tax to pay this autumn as the Treasury decide whether to extend national insurance contributions to rental income. 

According to a report in the Guardian, senior ministers have asked Treasury officials to look into a “proportional” property tax to see how it would work as an alternative to the existing stamp duty land tax on owner-occupied homes. 

More than a quarter of UK adults in long-term relationships (26%) have reported that despite living together, they keep their finances separate from one another.

There has been a rise in both rent and mortgage costs over the last three years, with renters seeing a greater increase in their monthly payments than those with a mortgaged property.

The new Delayed Start Mortgage launched by Skipton Building Society allows first time buyers to postpone the first three mortgage payments. This product has been designed to help soften the blow of moving in costs for first time buyers. 

Mortgage lenders are starting to recognise their “Green” responsibilities when it comes to the different products they offer. 

A recent study by Boon Brokers where 1,000 people who had used an estate agent over the last year were surveyed, showed that a whopping 52% said they were pressured into using the estate agents’ in-house mortgage broker.