Property Searches

I know - and several people have tried to explain.

Searches seem to be getting confused with surveys.

Definitely have searches not only outside my neighbour didn’t and they didn’t know front boundaries and inside needed complete rewire and other faults .Better safe than sorry

As I said we were told that it would have to be revealed to any prospective purchaser and the fact that we did not have full title for twelve years that would show up at the land registry
My original point was check your boundaries for yourself Since that time we have visited adjoining propane land owners and have avoided any issues No one has objected to us doing it

I'd have it done, you never k ow what might turn up

Boundary disputes don’t show up on searches, as I said.

If any land nearby belongs to the Local Authority, I believe they can give themselves permission to build without notifying the public. They did that here.

Germanshepherdsmum Slip of the fingers if you note I mentioned searches a little later
No boundary disputes showed up On one side the parish council wanted to turn a hollow way into a linear park but backed down when they saw the deeds. The other was a long affair. A double fenced piece of land they admitted it was on our deeds but claimed previous owners back in the fifties used to use it as a way through to another field. They were claiming adverse possession. It would have been expensive to resolve had we not been able to respond to solicitors letters ourselves The outcome was the land was registered in our name but we had to wait twelve years for full title This meant if we had put the property up for sale within that time the prospective buyers would have to be informed of the dispute

It’s usual to use search firms nowadays and they tend to be quicker.

You do need searches - and you need to be ready to chase them up as they can cause delays. But I would not buy without. Many solicitors farm the job out to search firms.

Anyone with any sense would certainly want searches done.

But surely anyone would want a search done, although I know some people who have done their own.

Germanshepherdsmum

Not unless you’re getting a mortgage.

Ah.

Not unless you’re getting a mortgage.

I thought searches were a compulsory part of the normal conveyancing procedure?

Surveys and searches will not reveal boundary disputes. The vendor should disclose such matters.

A cautionary tale Surveys are all very well but don’t always reveal everything. When purchasing a house in the eighties we had a full survey and searches carried out BUT what it did not show up was difference of opinion about boundaries. The land only extended to about five acres and we had disputes on two sides.
The morel of this tale is visit the neighbouring properties or land owners and check for yourselves

Even on a new estate, the construction standards can vary considerably across the estate depending on the sub contractors employed by the building company and developer.

A lot also depends on the type of ground the house is built on. I lived in an area where the underlying geology was a mix of sand and clay, and in the early 1970s when we had a prolonged dry period stretching over several years, the differential drying out of sand and clay led to subsidence in houses that had been built 10 or 20 years previously. It wouldn't apply to all houses on an estate, or even adjacent houses, Just a random sample across the estate depending on the make-up of the ground immediately under the house.

Another house we lived in was on a gravel sub soil and our next door neighbour had a sudden subsidence problem because a waste pipe had fractured and had been leaking into the ground, probably for years and the escaping water excavated a large hole under a corner of the house.

Then there are the things people do to their houses that cause problems: taking out internal load bearing walls to make rooms bigger, hacking at rafters to get more room in the roof.

In my working days I used to see a magazine sent out to people working in building services. Each issue featured a photograph of something someone had done to their house that put the welfare of anyone living in it at risk and covered wiring horrors, rerouted gas boiler flues, or the lack of flues, constructional changes that put the structure at risk or other matters that led to severe damp and mould problems.

Buy a house without a survey, because it was an estate and houses sold regularly! People who are naive enough to think like that are the ones that most need to get surveys done - and the same applies to searches.

Surveys and searches are not the same.

Just bought a retirement home for my dad and only had the very basic searches done. I work on the theory that these are sold on a very regular basis and if there were major issues they wouldn’t sell. I’d only have full surveys done on pre war property or anything that has been expended.

Unfortunately the search will only provide information in respect of the property the subject of the search. You need to ask your solicitor to enlarge the search area - there will be an increased fee but worthwhile.

Keeper1 It isn't just what is happening on the estate. There could be a plan to zone some nearby land for industrial development, or a longer term plan for wind turbines or solar farms.

The searches cost so little, or you could always do them yourself. We did them ourselves for DMiL when we needed them quickly and the Council was running a months delay.

Always remember that the search only covers the property the subject of the search, eg 45 High Street. It doesn’t cover proposals for any nearby premises unless you ask your solicitor to do this - there will be an additional search fee. The seller should disclose proposals for development of any nearby premises of which they are aware, but I would rather rely on what the local authority say than try to sue the vendor later on.

If something emerges down the road the searches are critical imho

Some searches can prove to be misleading. A search done for my buyer claimed that, as there was a stream at the end of my garden, the house could be liable to flooding. What it failed to take into account was that the house was at an elevation of approximately 8 ft higher than the stream. I put this right through my solicitor and the sale went through with no quibbles.