Solicitor search fees (and HIPs!?)

blizeH

Hi guys,

I've got an appointment with the solicitor tomorrow - everything's sorted now, all of the paperwork is finished, apart from the 'search request form' - I basically have to tick each search that I'd like them to do, but as tempting as it is to be comprehensive - do I really need all of them?

Environmental search - £41.06
Covers things such as contamination, radon gas, flooding as well a few other things also mentioned in the other searches!?

Flood report - £19.00
A detailed assessment of any potential flood risks.

Plans search - £24.68
Nearby planning applications, land use policies and, umm... flood risks!?

Chancel check search - £17.63
If there are any compulsory fees payable to the local church.

Radon gas search - £23.50
Check if the property is effected by radiological gas.

I'm tempted to go with all of them except maybe the radon gas one. But I was also wondering if some of the above would be covered in the HIP anyway? I had a fairly good look through each section of the HIP and certainly some things relating to the above got more than just a passing mention!

Cheers guys

g_attrill

Tthe main thing is, where is the property? If it's an estate or in streets of houses then most of those are probably not worth bothering with.

Flooding can be looked at on the Environment Agency site, I think you can see environmental risks there too, possibly not as detailed though.

Nearby planning might be relevant if there is open land or non-residential land nearby, or properties adjacent that you think might be redeveloped. You can usually view current and past applications at the local authority's website.

Chancel liability is relevant anywhere, but if it's an estate then the risk/exposure is pretty low.

Radon gas - £3.53 from here: http://www.ukradon.org/

david29dpo

Are you using a local solicitor? If so he/she should know what searches you need and what you don't. None of the above are standard in the HIP.

Hailstorm

Regarding flood reports.

Last year when I moved I had a flood report done and it showed more areas at risk then the environment agency website.

Before making an offer I looked at the environment agency site and it showed areas at risk about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from the house I was buying. That didn't suprise me though as there is a river and canal almost side by side.

My survey said that the property itself was in a flood risk area so I had a flood report carried out. The report said that the property itself was not at risk of flooding but it showed a lot of places as at risk that the environmental agency website did not.

delmar39

According to a recent letter from my solicitor chancel liability only applies where there is a medieval church in the village or nearby, that you may be expected to contribute towards in terms of upkeep. Our chancel liability policy cost us £5, so a bit more than you've been quoted.

Ditto most of what else has been said. Interested in Hailstorms comments above. Our Env Report shows that we are within 250 meters of a flood plain, but on the environment agency website is shows the risk as being 'low.' I'm thinking now that I should play it safe and get a flood report done.

seabright

I do Enviro & Chancel as standard for my clients and am considering starting to do Flood searches too, as it's becoming more of a problem to get insurance, so buyers need to know ASAP if there's a problem.

Plans - I offer it as an option, not many people take it up, to be honest.

Radon - depends where you are in the country, if you're in a radon area then building regs for your area will require you to take radon prevention when building. If you're not in a radon area, there's no point doing a search.

blizeH

Thank you all so much guys - have booked a meeting with the solicitor lady lately so will run through these things later, but it's great to have so much great info on here, for example Radon searches I wouldn't bother with, but for £3.50 or so mentioned above, it's worth having for peace of mind!

Flooding on the environmental agency website says no risk, but it's literally a stones throw from a canal so I'll go with a proper search anyway (unless that's covered partly in the environmental search, who knows!) and again the chancel one is worth doing for peace of mind I guess!

Thanks again guys, really appreciate it, glad I won't go into the meeting with no clue what I'm talking about now at least :-)

blizeH

Okay, that was interesting, she said none!

Environmental search? Wouldn't worry about it.

Floor report? Nah I know that area, it won't flood!

Plans search? It's already built on and you're right by the canal and loads of trees, can't see that changing.

Chancel check search? All would just say a 'possible chance' and advise me to contact the seller about paying £100~ for some kind of almost insurance against these fees, which they'd tell me to get lost and that'd be that.

Radon gas search? Not worth bothering with.

Although I may do the Radon gas search mentioned above, just to see if it is unusually high for some reason. £3.50? Not a lot really is it!

g_attrill

blizeH wrote: »

Flooding on the environmental agency website says no risk, but it's literally a stones throw from a canal so I'll go with a proper search anyway (unless that's covered partly in the environmental search, who knows!)

It's a bit of common-sense really - have a look at an Ordnance Survey map (use Multimap) and see how far above it is from the canal, and what (in theory) would need to flood before your house is flooded. For example my parent's house is 300m from a river, but halfway up a valley so most of southern Hampshire would need to flood before they do! There is groundwater to consider too though, but that is usually quite a localised and known problem in the area.

blizeH

Thanks attrill - I think yeah, it's not a worry. I spoke to a girl I work with as she lives right next to the house pretty much, and she said every day during the really bad flooding in Gloucestershire a couple of years ago she went down just to check the canal, and every day it was exactly the same as it always was!

Thinking of going for the environmental search though just in case, not really sure why, just think maybe I should have at least one of the searches done, right? ;_;

g_attrill

I would like to announce my new "Lion Search" it will report on whether a house has ever been attacked by a lion, whether lions are known to live in the area, and a history of lion activity since 1962. Only £25! A small price to pay when you are spending £000's!