Your guide to conveyancing services
6th January 2015
Buying a home is one of the most important investments most of us will ever make. To protect your investment, at Myers & Co Solicitors we carry out the following conveyancing searches to ensure your new home holds no nasty surprises:
- Land Registry – we will obtain official copies of the register of your property from the Land Registry. This confirms the seller’s ability to transfer ownership of the property to you, and shows the boundaries of the property, any rights or restrictions.
- Land charges – for unregistered properties, there is no central record of title. Instead, we will examine the deeds and carry out searches against the previous owners of the property at the Land Charges Department.
- Local authority – this reveals legal restrictions or obligations, including tree preservation orders and building enforcement history. It also shows any planned major infrastructure projects in the area, such as HS2, and if the property is a listed building.
- Specialist – this could assess risks such as flooding or the effects of historic clay or coal mining.
- Chancel repair liability – liability for the cost of maintaining the parish church may fall on some property owners. One of our specialist conveyancing solicitors will find out if this applies and what you should do.
- Pre-completion – just before completing the transaction, your lawyer will check the search results remain up to date. If you are taking out a mortgage, they must also carry out a bankruptcy search for your lender.
The seller does not have to tell you about defects in the property, so you should always consider commissioning an independent survey. Remember, the purpose of a mortgage valuation is to protect the lender’s interest, not yours. We can advise you on the different survey types and which is most appropriate.
For advice from Myers & Co Solicitors, based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, contact our residential conveyancing team on 01782 525016 or email info@myerssolicitors.co.uk.
Click here to receive a conveyancing quote from Myers & Co Solicitors in Staffordshire.
The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
