Can I obtain searches myself ??

losgiganteskid

Friend of mine is buying a new property and the paper work is currently ongoing thru solicitors.

She has been notified she should get the folling searches carried out

Local Authority Search
Drainage search
Environmental search and
The plan search

The solicitors want to charge £100 for each search so £400 in all.

She wonders whether she can obtain these searches herself and save most of this fee.

Any knowledgeable person know the answer ??

Thanks in advance.

shortchanged_2

As far as I know there is no legal requirement to use a solicitor at all in the house buying process.

It's just I suppose they are experts in the field and so you should have some backup if any issues arise.

Voyager2002

losgiganteskid wrote: »

Friend of mine is buying a new property and the paper work is currently ongoing thru solicitors.

She has been notified she should get the folling searches carried out

Local Authority Search
Drainage search
Environmental search and
The plan search

The solicitors want to charge £100 for each search so £400 in all.

Check whether the £100 is what the solicitor charges for requesting the search, or the fee from the Authority that actually performs it. (Fees that solicitors pay, on your behalf, to external providers are called 'disbursements' and there is not a lot that you can do about them.)

Vomityspice

There is nothing stoping you undertaking the searches yourself.

However, who are you going to ask to interperate them for you? Of course you can ask your 'friends' but if they get it wrong what will you do? Especially if the problem is discovered after you have bought the house......

Certainly, if I were your conveyancer I would encourage you to do it yourself and then (as per the agrement you signed) bill you seperately for the additional work when you ask 100 questions about what it all means.

By all means, look at what your LA are charging for each search and then discuss with your advisor if you think their 'mark up' is excessive.

losgiganteskid

thanks for the replies so far - i'm sure somewhere in the past I read that searches cost about £20 - £25 +vat each

chickaroonee

losgiganteskid wrote: »

thanks for the replies so far - i'm sure somewhere in the past I read that searches cost about £20 - £25 +vat each

All local authorities have different charges. I think my last ones were around £250.

Yorkie1

Searches are disbursements, and solicitors must charge only the cost of disbursements. Is this a local firm or an online or remote firm?

losgiganteskid

Its a internet based firm operating from the midlands ie postal service etc but they are approved by various building societies apparently

ValHaller

losgiganteskid wrote: »

Its a internet based firm operating from the midlands ie postal service etc but they are approved by various building societies apparently

Being 'on the internet. does not make a business like an 'on-line conveyancer' cheap. because their is very little about their underlying process model which makes them cheaper on the internet. However, being 'on the internet' makes them feel obliged to appear cheaper, hence they make their margins by charging heavily for searches

As Yorkie says, charges are 'disbursements' and any decent firm will charge them without markup.

Yorkie1

Sounds to me as though they've just given you an estimate of the search fees without having investigated them properly at this point.

zzzLazyDaisy

Are you buying with a mortgage? If so, you won't have a choice. The solicitor also acts for the lender, who will require the solicitor to do the searches.