When purchasing a property, the mantra is ‘buyers beware’ meaning that it is the buyers responsibility to undertake searches to discover any defects in the property. It is not the sellers obligation to disclose this information - the onus is on the buyer to do the searches. 

These searches should be undertaken before exchange of contracts and before you are committed to purchasing the property. 

The list below is a sample of what searches can be undertaken and what the results can reveal: 

• A local authority search LLC1. This search can reveal any compulsory purchase orders, conversation area, financial charges or listed building registrations. It can also reveal any tree preservation orders and planning permissions. 
• A local authority enquiry CON29. This is a list of standard enquiries including a search of the ownership of roads, nearby railway schemes, planning and building regulations and traffic schemes. 
• Company search. This may be necessary if you are buying a company from a property, to ensure that the company has the authority to sell premises without breaching their company constitution. 
• Land charges search. This is necessary if the land is unregistered. 
• Bankruptcy search. The purpose of this is to avoid you buying property from a bankrupt individual, which would void the transaction. 
• Coal mining search. This is important as coal mining can lead to subsidence in the property and result in damage. 
• Environmental search. This will reveal whether the land is contaminated or a flood risk. A property with a high likelihood of flooding will be more difficult to insure. 

There can also be specific searches depending on the locality of the area. For example, in Wolverhampton and the Black Country, it might be necessary to do a Lime Stone mining search. In contrast, in Devon and Cornwall a Tin mining search is more appropriate. 

Your solicitor will advise you of the necessary searches in your transaction and their costs. Each search might have a different timescale for the results to return, therefore the quicker the searches are submitted the less likely the transaction will be delayed. 

If you would like any further information or advice in relation to buying or selling a property, please contact us on 01384 410 410 or send an email to residentialconveyancing@georgegreen.co.uk. You can also get a free quote by using our conveyancing quote tool on our website.