buying bung

smudger1946

Hiya all,

A bit of advice please, i am buying a property and trying to keep all of the costs down ie. do i need a Local search at £145 or a drain search at £50, environmental search, whatever that is, at £50.

Do i have to have these and what are the implications if i dont, if any?

I am a cash buyer too.

With thanks Smudger

kingstreet

Local search and drains/water are likely to be mandatory and required by your mortgage lender, if having one.

The environmental search is usually voluntary.

ognum

smudger1946 wrote: »

Hiya all,

A bit of advice please, i am buying a property and trying to keep all of the costs down ie. do i need a Local search at £145 or a drain search at £50, environmental search, whatever that is, at £50.

Do i have to have these and what are the implications if i dont, if any?

I am a cash buyer too.

With thanks Smudger

can you afford not to, the next buyer will have them and if there are problems what will you do then?

Tea_Pea_Dee

I am a cash buyer also, but I had to have the local search and drainage ones. I declined the environmental one though. Just like you I don't have a scooby what it actually is. This property will be my final resting place, so the kids can sort out the next buyers' whys and wherefores.

JQ.

Tea_Pea_Dee wrote: »

I am a cash buyer also, but I had to have the local search and drainage ones. I declined the environmental one though. Just like you I don't have a scooby what it actually is. This property will be my final resting place, so the kids can sort out the next buyers' whys and wherefores.

That might be sooner than you think if the house is situated on a former landfill site or a former Victorian industrial works.

As a cash buyer you don't need any of these searches, however, they are designed to protect you and when spending £000,000's trying to save is £250 is utter madness.

G_M

Tea_Pea_Dee wrote: »

I am a cash buyer also, but I had to have the local search and drainage ones..

No you didn't.

Your solicitor may have advised you to have these (probobly did) but it's your choice.

Searches provide you with information, which helps you identify potential issues and helps you decide whether to proceed or not.

If you are happy to proceed without that information, that is up to you.

This will help explain what search gives what info.

GDB2222

It depends on what you are buying. If you are buying a property which was built quite a few years ago and has changed hands a number of times, you really do not need either of these searches, Unless of course your mortgage provider requires them. They are a complete waste of money.

"1. Local Authority
This search will give you information on a number of different areas, eg, planning issues, road works, the proximity of railway or tube lines, and whether the property is listed or is situated in a conservation area.
These matters must all be found out before you exchange contracts since they may affect your enjoyment or use of the property. For example, if the property is in a conservation area, there will be restrictions in terms of external alterations to the property , or, if is transpires that major road widening schemes are planned nearby, you may change your mind about the purchase."

Quite frankly, you can learn more about the property by looking around. When it says "planning issues", it does not mean useful planning issues, like whether the next-door neighbour is putting up a three-storey extension. if you are concerned about planning issues, look on your local authority's website, where there is probably a portal to the planning information. (That really is a useful thing to do, as it gives you information about the planning applications that have been made by the neighbouring properties.)

The bulk of the information this search provides is just local knowledge that everybody knows. For example, surely you will know whether you are buying a property in a conservation area or not? You will know whether a new motorway is about to go past your front door, and you will know how far it is to the station and the nearest railway line, just by looking at the map.


"2. Water and Drainage
This search will reveal matters such as the proximity of public sewers, whether there is a sewer running through the boundaries of your property, whether the property is connected to the main water supply, whether foul water and surface drainage from property drain to a public sewer and location of the water mains."

If you are buying an ordinary property on an ordinary street in an ordinary town, you know perfectly well that there is a mains water supply and that the property drains into the main sewer. if there is any doubt about that, ask the vendors or the water company.

phoebe1989seb

When we bought our approx 300 year old house last year without any mortgage we made the decision not to have any searches done as we felt they were not necessary......if we had been buying a relatively new property we would most likely have opted to do the searches though

Thrugelmir

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

When we bought our approx 300 year old house last year without any mortgage we made the decision not to have any searches done as we felt they were not necessary......

Why does the age of house matter?

What it was used for may be more important.

theGrinch

on such a large purchase why cut corners? in the long run you wont notice these costs, but not having these searches may come back to bite you when you sell.

GDB2222

theGrinch wrote: »

on such a large purchase why cut corners? in the long run you wont notice these costs, but not having these searches may come back to bite you when you sell.

That's the old scare argument - some sort of non-specific problem that is never quite explained.