Conveyancing: Common solicitors’ enquiries when buying a house!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conveyancing: Common solicitors’ enquiries when buying a house!

What enquiries are necessary?

As a buyer, once you instruct your solicitor, they will contact the sellers’ solicitor to exchange draft contracts and to raise enquiries. The exact nature of the queries raised can vary somewhat depending on the individual circumstances of the various parties involved in the transaction. But they are essential to ensure that the property to be purchased is saleable and mortgage able. Also, both you and your solicitor are satisfied with the terms of the sale before contracts are exchanged. 

Waiting on responses to the queries can be frustrating but is an unfortunate reality of the house-buying process. Without them, you could rush into buying a property only to discover later there was no planning permission or building control sign off, or that there were covenants attached to it which should have prevented it being sold in the first place. 

You would then be lumbered with a property that you cannot use and which you cannot sell without making a loss. It’s worth remembering if there is a delay in obtaining answers to the queries and reminding yourself that the process is there to protect all parties, including you.

Once they receive the draft contract, your conveyancing solicitor will read through the draft contract to identify any legal issues and to confirm that the information contained within it is accurate. 

The standard enquires to be raised include:

• Local authority search carried out with the borough council to check for planning permissions, building control sign-offs and rights of way
• Checking your mortgage offer to ensure that any specific requirements that the lender insists on are adhered to. (These could include a promise on your part to undertake specific maintenance works on the property within an agreed period)
• Checking for any other charges secured against the property such as secured loans
• Highlighting anything restricted by covenant in the deeds. (Such covenants can prevent you from developing the property or from a changing the land use)
• Reviewing current ownership of the property
• Checking for relevant gas safety checks and boiler maintenance
• Checking the environmental report for issues of contaminated land
• Checking when the property was last rewired and whether that is in line with current regulations
• Asking whether the property has ever suffered from flooding, subsidence, structural defects or drainage issues
• Checking whether any previous owners have ever been denied buildings insurance and if so, why.
• Checking for any additional insurance premiums in place due to environmental factors (These could include close proximity to a river which leads an increased chance of flooding)
• Checking trees near the property to assess the risk of structural damage and whether a tree preservation order is in place
• Checking that all drains at the property clear and accessible if repairs are required
• Checking who is responsible for drain maintenance and any associated costs
• Checking whether there is a septic tank associated property and if so, how many properties share it and what arrangements are in place for its maintenance and any repairs
• Confirming connection to the local water system

·         There may be other enquiries that you would like your solicitor to raise on your behalf, and these may be unique to your circumstances. If you have any questions regarding enquiries, future development, the local area or anything else you should speak to your conveyancing solicitor and if necessary they can raise a query.

·         As you can see, there are a lot of enquiries to raise, and all of them are important if you are to have confidence in the property you are buying. It is worth remembering that for most property sales, these queries are a matter of course and that multiple enquiries will be raised with single agencies so the list should not overawe you.