Is it worth doing a chancel search on a 1 bed flat in London?

AubreyMac · 10 February 2015 at 1:23AM

As the title says.

I'm in the process of buying a 1 bed flat, it is ex local authority.

I find that the more I read on these things the more scared/paranoid I get. I know you can get these searches done just for peace of mind but then you'd want all the searches even coal mining and tin searches too.

I googled the nearest church to this flat and there's 3 within a 1.5 mile radius.

My friend tells me I shouldn't bother as it's unlikely flats are liable to pay for churches and it more applies to country cottages/homes.

What do you think?

bouicca21 · 10 February 2015 at 8:44AM

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/chancel-repairs.htm

Richard_Webster · 10 February 2015 at 8:59AM

I googled the nearest church to this flat and there's 3 within a 1.5 mile radius.

My friend tells me I shouldn't bother as it's unlikely flats are liable to pay for churches and it more applies to country cottages/homes.

The only church that could be relevant is the parish church for the area that flat is in according to the 1836 parish boundaries, which could be miles away, so nearness of churches is nothing to do with anything. Parishes in towns have usually been subdivided since then!

The rules applied just as much to towns as villages although the likelihood of enforcement has always been small and is admittedly more likely in villages where situations are more likely to be known and larger/more valuable chunks of land/property are involved than in large towns.

If the flat has been bought and sold since 13th October 2013 then the :and Registry entries (which your solicitor will get with the draft contract package) will show if there is any liability and it is 99.5% likely that no liability will be shown.

If the flat hasn't changed hands since that date it is just possible that the Church might try to register liability before the sale goes through. Your solicitors ought to be able to insure against this possibility for quite a small cost - around £10.

tillycat123 · 10 February 2015 at 11:08AM

I'm just about to complete on a house, solicitor did a Chancel search, my searches were a 'packaged fee' so was no cheaper for me not to have one.

The result seems so vague, its not been registered on the house but the search company seems to automatically take out an indemnity, my case £14. I've not been charged extra for this though as says covered in the search cost.

Seems a bit of a PPI scam to me.

martindow · 10 February 2015 at 11:19AM

Is the situation different with a flat as opposed to a freehold house? If there were to be a chancel repair bill could it be the freeholder's responsibility to pay rather than thr OP?

Jhoney_2 · 10 February 2015 at 11:20AM

I would want to cover myself against any payments/claims etc as you are spending 10s of £ks - your money (which you don't want to loss) and the lenders - which they will want back to the penny. Why risk it for a few pounds? It's a small risk but what if years down the line, someone decides to enforce/increase it - you have nowhere to hide.

Note: I am a buckles and braces sort, when it comes to business transactions.

Is it worth doing a chancel search on a 1 bed flat in London?

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