should I have a Local Authority Search?

newlife01

Hello Everyone,

I'm purchasing a house and have received a letter from the solicitor stating that the HIP contains a local 'personal' search which will be accepted by the lender, but they recommend a full Local Authority Search against the property whcih will cost approximately £100.

I dont want to spend £100 on something that has been already done but I dont really know the difference between a personal search that is accepted by the lender and a local authority search so I dont know what to do.

I'd appreciate any advice on whether you think an additional search is necessary and adds anything to that already covered in the HIP.

Many thanks
Newlife

Nosht

I would ask the solicitor what he recommends & the ramifications, apart from the cost, of the search.

N.

Richard_Webster

Most of the time the personal search in a HIP is OK. Very occasionally there will be slightly more detail in the official search. For instance, they may provide a plan show the extent of highways in the locality.

So you could have a road that turns in to an unmade or roughly surfaced track further down. A personal search against say "27 Some Lane Somewhere" might show in answer the question about adopted highways that Some Lane is an adopted highway (because it is on the Highway Authority's list) but the fact that number 27 is on an unadopted bit at the end won't show, whereas it is more likely that the official search would show that kind of detail.

A similar point might come up if you are buying a house with a backway which you can drive down to get to a garage in the back garden. If the Land Registry entries or any document referred to in them give a right to use such a backway it is not a problem, but if not. it may be important to establish that the backway is adopted and therefore you have a right to use it.

In my own area I routinely notice that the HIP searches don't show the backways adopted, that I know are adopted. Because of local knowledge I don't bother getting an official search to tell me something I already know. If I came across a similar situation out of my area I might well advise that an official search be carried out just to establish this kind of point.

I would look at each case in connection with the circumstances of the property involved and advise the client about the advantages of such a search in their particular case, but a lot of solicitors just talk in much more general terms about official searches being "better" and I have to admit on that basis it is difficult for lay person to form a view. However, do bear in mind that the search companies have to carry a minimum of £1,000,000 indemnity cover in case they make a mistake, so if something really awful did come up that they should have included then you would be able to claim.