Is Your New Home a Trick or Treat?

Enquiries are specific questions that relate to the property you are purchasing. Timms Conveyancer, Julie Stewart, discusses the ins and outs of enquiries in her latest blog…

What Are Enquiries?

Enquiries are specific questions that relate to the actual property you are purchasing. The enquiries raised will not comprise of matters which could be dealt with directly between the seller and buyer such as the day upon which the bins are taken for example.

Your conveyancer will check the information provided by the seller’s conveyancer including the property information form, the fittings and contents form, the results of searches received as well as the seller’s title and raise relevant enquiries. It is important to identify potential causes for concern and ensure these are dealt with by the seller and where necessary at the seller’s cost before you proceed to purchase the property. The enquiries raised will ensure compliance with your mortgage lender’s particular criteria.

The enquiries will not cover the state or condition of the building or matters which can be resolved by your own inspection or survey report. Your conveyancer needs to make sure the details in the property information form are consistent and where necessary supported by the additional documents supplied. In particular any works undertaken to the property which need to be covered by building regulation approval need to have the compliance certificate recorded on the relevant register or in the Local Search Certificate.

What Is The Purpose Of Enquiries?

The conveyancing protocol states conveyancers should raise only specific enquiries to clarify issues arising out of the documents submitted. Irregularities in the forms need to be considered and where information provided is not clear, then further queries will be raised. The ultimate purpose of enquiries is to enable the buyer to have a clear picture of the property they intend to purchase, knowledge of matters affecting it and highlight any defects or issues along with advice on how rectifying any problems prior to purchase.

The Land Registry Title

This is the document showing the seller’s ownership of the property and may refer to an old Conveyancing or Transfer document from when the property was built or first transferred. The title document may well reveal rights which benefit the property or rights reserved in favour of your neighbours or the builder (known as easements). The restrictive covenants (rules which you must follow as the new owner) are also contained in the title although older properties tend to have fewer than a modern property built within the last 20 years. Not all properties have rights and not all properties have restrictive covenants but your conveyancer will check the title to ensure that there are no onerous provisions which can affect you or any mortgage lender.

Restrictive Covenants

Restrictive covenants run with the land and bind future owners. The covenants are generally imposed when the house is first constructed or sold as a residential property. Typically when a housing estate is being built, the builder imposes the covenants on all houses on an estate to allow for the site to be kept neat and tidy and prevent occupiers from carrying out actions which may be considered a nuisance or annoyance. With an older property there will be fewer covenants but they are still relevant and the responsibility to adhere to them passes with a change of ownership.

Examples of covenants are:

No trade or business
No animals except domestic pets
Not to alter property without the developer’s consent
Not to use the property other than as a private dwelling
Not to park a lorry or caravan or boat upon the drive
Not to block or park upon any shared driveway

Occasionally, a covenant limited developments or extensions may be restricted for a period of time (usually 5 or 10 years) from the sale by the builder but the majority last forever.

In the event of you effecting a breach of covenant, the party with the benefit of the covenant (usually the builder or a neighbour) would be entitled to take enforcement action against you as the house owner. You could be asked to reinstate the property to the state or condition it was in before the breach or you could face a claim for damages (a sum paid by way of compensation).

Your conveyancer will raise an enquiry asking if any covenants have been breached or if the seller has received any notice from a third party notifying them of a breach.

When your conveyancer has the replies to the enquiries raised, they will report to you. You may have your own enquiries you wish your conveyancer to raise but if these are not a of a legal nature then it is best to speak to the estate agent who can raise with the seller or you could visit the property again and check the situation yourself by inspection or discussion with the Seller. Any replies given by the estate agent should however be confirmed in writing by your conveyancer as you cannot rely on information that is given verbally or in writing by third parties.