Searches on a house - confused

wiggly

Hi everyone Hope you all had a lovely weekend

I'm in the middle of getting some solicitors quotes together but I'm really confused

2 different solicitors have quoted me pretty much the same price give or take £50 but the names of the searches are different

Can anyone help?

one firm said:

Search fees
Drainage
Landfill
Chancill
Official Searches

the other:

Local search
Drainage
Mining
Environmental
Official Searches

(as well as their own fees and land registry and bank transfer)

Can anyone enlighten me as to what they all are, which ones are the same but have a different name, why one wants to do a mining one and the other a landfill etc

my head hurts

Richard_Webster

I could explain all this at length - but why don't you ask the solicitors for an explanation of what each search does and the reason for it. They should put this in writing with the stuff they send out to you with the estimate.

Quite apart from cost you may want to base your decision on which firm to instruct on the extent to which they explain why they consider the searches are needed. (This is some evidence of whether they know what they are doing...")

Ring one firm up and say "You are saying you'll do a so and so search but not a such and such search which another firm says we should have done - why's that?" Then see whether they explain it - and whether you understand the explanation - if they don't explain or it doesn't make sense to you then you might not want to use them!

In any event DON'T accept any "quotes" until you have read all the small print on the written estimate. There can sometimes be some unexpected extras.

As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients

wiggly

cheers

I've just rung and that made a lot of sense I think
the one that doesn't do a mining search said there is no need where we want to buy, why on earth would one solicitor do it and the other not?

straddie

wiggly wrote: »

the one that doesn't do a mining search said there is no need where we want to buy, why on earth would one solicitor do it and the other not?

Because they can get more money out of you! The one's saying no are being honest with you.

Melissa177

Mining searches are usually irrelevant in an urban area, I believe. Also, there should be fixed costs for the searches from your local council - maybe it's worth calling the local council and asking how much they charge for the searches (this is what the solicitor will use the fees for - to pay the council)?

saver_sam

Land Charges Searches (part of the Con 29) costs around £11 per parcel of land (some councils charge more)

This involves someone visiting the local council and obtaining the land charges (lists planning permissions with conditions, Tree Preservation orders, among other things), finding out about the area the property is in (ie conservation area, risk of flooding) from the local plan and what planning applications have occurred on the land parcel (ie the site/property). They also enquire as to whether the road is adopted or not (sometimes this information is provided by the county council)

Some councils do not provide environmental or building control information