Searches and Enquiries Flashcards
When might seller’s solicitor carry out searches?
Property Practice
Searches and Enquiries
If dividing land in plots to different buyers
When might lender’s solicitor carry out searches?
Particularly for a remortgage with no associated purchase
What are the standard searches?
Local search
Con29 – enquiries of local authority
LLC1 – local land charges
Drainage and water
Desktop environmental
Chancel repair liability
Land charges search (unregistered)
Search of index map (unregistered or registered land subject to mineral rights)
Companies search
What are the optional searches?
CON29O (including commons registration search)
Highways search
Coal mining search
Cheshire salt
Tin, clay and limestone
Phase I / Phase II survey
Flood search
Utility providers
Railways – overground, underground, crossrail or HS2
Waterways
What is National Land Information Service?
An online portal between solicitors and various institutions in which searches can be made
What is the local search?
Covers all matters in knowledge of local authority
What are specific local searches?
Standard enquiries of local authority
Optional enquiries
Local Land Charges Search
What is Form CON29?
Standard enquiries of local authority
What is form CON29O?
Only ticked in specific circumstances, such as commons search
What is Local Land Charges Search (LLC1)?
A register of local land charges
What will CON29 reveal?
Planning permission / refusal / completion
Building regulations
Roads and public rights of way
Environmental notices
What are examples of CON29O enquiries?
Road proposals by private bodies
Areas of outstanding natural beauty and national parks
Pipelines
Noise abatement zones
Common land and TVG
What is revealed in Local Land Charges?
Planning permissions
Planning enforcement / stop notice
Article 4 directions
Tree preservation orders
Smoke control orders
Financial charges such as road-making charges
Conservation areas
Listed building status
What is a desktop environmental search?
Will indicate if property is potentially contaminated / potential of local industrial works / likelihood of flooding
Why is desktop environmental search relevant?
Because owner will be liable for contaminated land
What is chancel repair search?
Responsibility to fix church
What is a Highways search and when is it needed?
For more commercial properties or if doubt of access to the road
What are standard enquiries?
Standard forms in pre-contract enquiries
What are standard enquiries for commercial property?
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE1)
What are standard forms for residential property?
Property information form (TA6) – boundaries, alterations, work done, neighbour disputes, occupiers, utility
Fittings and contents form (TA10) – what’s included and what is not - curtains, light fittings, carpets
Does “not so far as the seller is aware” absolve seller of responsibility?
No – will be treated as “yes” if that should have. Because a seller that answers this must have made reasonable investigations
What searches are relevant to title / seller?
Index Map Search (SIM)
MapSearch
Central Land Charge Search (Form K15)
