Search costs and issues they can cause

Search fees are dictated by a range of things , if you have chosen or the lender has specified official search from the local authority the fee can be between £50 and £250 depending on the local authority ,also different local Authorities charge differently for additional items on top of the standard search. You can review the specific local authorities website to see what their charges are at that time , on Average Drainage reports will cost you on average about £30 to £40 plus VAT , whilst environmental reports cost between £30-35 plus VAT .

Non official private company searches that can be used in 75% of the circumstances mostly range between £75 and £120 for the standard search. Most solicitors will offer a fixed fee bundle that covers (Local Authority, Drainage and Water, Environmental and Chancel reports) the total cost is around £300-£250.

Issues the local searches can uncover.

Some properties are in a flood plain area, this could mean the particular lender you are using might withdraw its offer if the solicitor gets this on the search report as they are obliged to report this to the lender, although rare if you are buying a property close to a river or surrounded by water the risk of flooding could be an issue.

Local land charges register    

This search will normally list the parts of the register which have entries relevant to the property searched , an example if no Financial charges are on the property searched , no mention of the 2 types of financial charges will be mentioned .

Part 1 General Financial Charges

If there are any financial charges that are not known at this time E.G if there is future plans passed to adopt a private road, they could register a charge on the properties that will front onto the road to pay for them to be brought up to standard, it might not have an actual amount but the potential buyers of the property will be given notice by the search then your conveyance will discuss it with you and see if you want to proceed to purchase completion.

Part 2 – Specific financial charges

If the council has already carried out rechargeable works, such as the making up of a road and a house on the route needed boarding up as it has been left empty and the cost is Known, a specific financial charge will be registered.

Part 3 – Planning Charges

In this section, the local land charges search will have a list of any planning applications, this will tell you if they were granted, granted with a condition, pending or refused. It will also include any listed buildings consents, planning enforcement notices or tree preservation orders.

We will be putting up a post about planning permission at a later date.

Miscellaneous Charges

This is where charges that are off no specific category, e.g. smoke control orders (this one states that only smokeless fuels can be burnt in this area) and other non-categorized points will be placed here.  

Fenland way maintenance charges

This is charges to pay for fenland maintenance and only apply to properties situated in the fenland area, hence it is very rare and localized.

Land compensation Charges

These relate to prospective compensation claims under the land compensation act 1973, this covers where land has been acquired under the compulsory purchase procedure.

New towns Charges

This is related to charges covered by the new towns act 1981.

Civil Aviation Charges

This section relates to those charges covered by the civil Aviation act 1982

Opencast coal Charges

This relates to those charges covered by the opencast act 1958, some areas that are near to coal, or other mineral mining operations, and additional mining report might be necessary to satisfy your lender, we will go into these reports on another Post.

Listed buildings

This will reveal if the property is listed and what grade of listing it is, if the property is listed it will restrict the building of extensions unless the extension fits in with the original style of the property. Even putting double glazing can be an issue, unlike standard buildings were planning permission is time barred by the local authority, planning permission for listed buildings local authority action is not time barred. You can be made to remove or put back to original and alterations made without permission at any time they are discovered by the local authority.

Light obstruction notices

These are charges covered by the Rights of Light act 1959. These notices can be registered were a tree or building obstructs light, or blocks the view to neighboring land. Usually when land is developed and sold or sold for development a provision that removes any right of Light that the purchaser may otherwise have. So neighboring retained land could be developed by the purchase in the future.

Land Drainage schemes

This is a charge that covers drainage of an area by the local authority or environment agency, the expense for this could be charged to the property land owners in the vicinity covered in the area of the scheme.

Planning and buildings regulations

This will reveal whether any applications for building regulations approval for any work done to the property have been granted or refused.

Point G deals with certificates of compliance relating to replacement windows, roof lights and Glazed doors. Since 1^st April 2002 it has been required that under building regulations that such work either has to be inspected and certified by building control or else , if the installer is a member of Fensa ( a body set up to regulate the double glazing industry) the installer will self certificate this once the windows have been installed . When work is self certified, the Window Company will inform the local Council of this and will make an entry as per point 1.1g.

Planning designations and Proposals  

Local councils will usually or often have a development plan for the area governed by them. This part will reveal the existence of a plan if there is one, where you can go and inspect the plan if there is one, so any proposals can be check if it will affect your property searched in the future.

Roads

On the search inquiry/Application form the roads that give access to the property should be listed, if none are listed the road at the front of the property will be searched automatically. The information that will be shown will be as below.

Part a) any roads, highways that will be maintainable at public expense.

A road maintainable by public expense (an “adopted highway “) is a road that is public, which gives everyone rights of way. Such a road is maintained by the highways agency from public funds,

 

New roads that will be built, but will not affect properties that front onto it financially 

Sometimes when the highways agency /Department build a road, the properties that front on to it will have no charge to pay. Sometimes roads fronting properties will be private and the local Authority will have no Jurisdiction over that road , or help with the maintenance of that road .If the road is private it will be ok as long as the property in question has right of way over the road to the property by Vehicle or by foot . If there are no rights of way the title will be deemed as defective, this will be need to be remedied. Also a covenant exists, that each property fronting the private road is responsible for an equal share of any costs of up keeping the road.

Most private roads when set up and built by a developer are governed under a management company that is also set up or employed to, run and manage the road. When a property is sold it will be a requirement for the new owner to enter into a contract with the management company that looks after the road.

There is not much that can be done if there are no covenants covering road repair, or sometimes they may not be a covenant that is sufficient to cover road upkeep. This will be reported to the Purchaser and the mortgage company if a mortgage is involved and the purchaser/Lenders instruction should be taken. In some circumstances this could stop the lender wanting to continue to offer finance for the property and the purchase might fail.

Other Matters

Under the environment law each Local Authority is now duty bound to survey all the land in its district or borough and compile a register of areas which are deemed as contaminated. Majority of Local Authorities have not started or even finished compiling its registers for this , if Land that is on the register, is found to be contaminated then the authority has the power to order the land owner to clean up the site at the site owners own cost . The cleanup of contaminated land can run into thousands of pounds so this section of the search should be looked at carefully. You can also carry out a search of the environmental register to establish if the land is likely to be classed as contaminated in the future. In some circumstances it might be possible to carry out a physical site investigation, usually this is done on large scale development sites and costs for this can be very high.

Radon Affected Area

Radon gas is a potentially life threatening gas which rises from the ground, if the necessary barriers are not in place, the gas can enter the property through the ground. A radon affected area is classified by as an area in which more than 1% of the properties that have been surveyed have shown a level of Radon gas that reads above the actionable level. If the local authority search reveals the property to be in an affected area, the purchasers acting solicitor should make enquiries, to see if the seller has ever had the property tested for Radon gas, of if the sell is aware of any radon gas problems. If radon gas has been identified as affecting the property it might not be dangerous but the purchaser should be notified so they can pay for further test or discontinue the purchase of the property.