Conveyancing searches are almost always a necessary requirement if you are looking to purchase a house with a mortgage. Searches are enquiries that you have submitted to relevant local authorities in order to find out more about the property you wish to purchase. There are a variety of searches that can be performed, and not all are necessary. You can speak to your lender about which searches they require. However, you will almost always find that they insist on carrying out the following four searches.
1. LAS (Local Authority Search)
A LAS is a fairly comprehensive overview of the property you are looking to purchase. It gives you access to information such as any nearby road schemes, information about any planning applications that have been submitted, and any restrictions there are on permitted developments. You will have to pay to access this information, and the cost varies depending on the local council.
2. Environmental Search
An environmental search is useful for highlighting any risks to the property that are located within 500 metres. It could highlight problems such as landslides, contaminated land, subsidence, flooding and landfills.
3. Water & Drainage Search
This search gives you an overview of all water and drainage systems running through or near to the property. This information gives you insight into how your own sewage systems will work, and will help highlight where it would be safe to develop the property.
4. Chancel Repair Search
A Chancel repair search will help tell you whether or not you are liable to help towards repairs of your local church. Though this may sound a little outdated, it is because landowners were once responsible for maintaining local churches. This won’t affect many UK houses, and even if it does, you can often take out Chancel repair insurance, which is normally about £20 a year.
When it comes to buying a house, a number of unexpected costs can crop up, and these can end up amounting to a lot of money. To get on top of your expenses and to help avoid these costs stacking up, you can use our useful conveyancer comparison tool to find the most affordable conveyancer around. Simply click here to get started.
Studious by Bruce Guenter licensed under Creative commons 4
