What Searches Are Required When Purchasing A Property?

‘What Searches Are Required When Purchasing A Property?’ By understanding the searches required, buyers can ensure they are making a well-informed decision before investing in a property. Timms Conveyancer, Michelle Rock, discusses…

When purchasing a property, you are often required to carry out additional searches, especially if you are having a mortgage. The searches that we will initially carry out on your behalf and the reasons why are set out below;

Local Authority Search

The Local Council carry out this search for the area in which the property is situated. This search is carried out to check if there are any planning or building regulations consents for any work carried out on the property and to see whether the property is affected by issues such as compulsory purchase orders, planning enforcement action, road and rail schemes, road adoption, and land contamination. This search is important as we need to ensure there are no such issues that could affect your enjoyment and proposed use of the property and any Lender’s valuation of the property.

Coal Mining Search

This will be carried out if the property is in a mining area. This search will confirm if the property has been affected by coal mining issues such as past, present and future underground and open cast mining, subsidence, mine entries and subsidence claims within the vicinity of the property. This is important as the existence of mine entries and coal mining subsidence claims will require further investigation and additional costly reports. These issues can affect the valuation of the property and your ability to secure a mortgage due to the risk.

Water and Drainage Search

This search will be carried out to check if the property is connected to the public sewer system and mains water supply and to check if there are any public sewers passing through the property. This is important as the existence of public sewers within the boundaries of a property will mean the Water Company have rights to access the property for maintenance and repair purposes. It also means that any future development on the property may be restricted as consent is required from the Water Company for extensions erected near to or over the site of a public sewer and conditions can be imposed, which can be costly.

Environmental Report

This search will be carried out to see if there are any environmental factors affecting the property, such as the risk of contamination and past land uses which could require the home owner to carry out remediation works at their own cost. The report will also identify whether the property is affected by flooding, natural ground subsidence, development constraints, radon gas and energy and rail projects, such as the HS2. This report helps you to assess whether any further reports and searches are required and also whether further surveys and professional opinions should be obtained.

We can carry out a range of other searches depending on the location of the property and will advise you of these as and when required. For example, properties in parts of Cornwall and Devon may require a Tin Mining Search. Clients can choose to have a Planning Search detailing any Planning Permissions within close proximity to the property; from extensions to new build developments.