House on coal mine solitor recommended by EA no coal mine search

allanwhyte77

Hi,
I posted here last night about concerns over the chimney stack on the property we're in the process of purchasing as it was out of line and coming away from next doors.


The solicitors we're using was recommended by the EA who are selling the property, we asked them for a recommendation as we were on holiday when our offer was accepted. We aren't selling ourselves as it's a buy to let.


When I received the solicitors quote the form she sent had a list of charges next to what they were for. The only one in the list that didn't have a charge next to it was coal mining search which at the time, I thought odd that they weren't planning to do that search but thought no more about it.


I showed a friend of mine the picture of the chimney and he said he thought he'd read something about homes being demolished in that area due to mining. This got me thinking about the solicitors quote so I had a look online.


Not only was it true about homes being demolished in the area due to mining, the house in question was right on top of a coal seam and two mine shafts. This house only one of a few in the area that is.


I've already paid £200 to the solicitor and the mortgage company did the valuation on Friday which I haven't heard the results of yet.


I'm just wondering now if the EA told the solicitor not to do the coal search as the house sale had previously fallen through before we offered on it. The solicitors they recommended aren't local to where the house is. If my suspicions are correct, this must be misconduct surely?

Alter_ego

allanwhyte77 wrote: »

If my suspicions are correct, this must be misconduct surely?

Maybe but you'll never prove it. I'd buy a different house.

G_M

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5559773

The solicitors we're using was recommended by the EA who are selling the property,

Balmy.

(You - not the EA).

kingstreet

allanwhyte77 wrote: »

the mortgage company did the valuation on Friday which I haven't heard the results of yet

... and one of the results will be the need for a mining report as "the property is situated in an area where past mining activity may have an influence."

Unless you use a solicitor who knows a given area well, they may not be aware of past mining activity. They will therefore wait until a professional tells them what's needed. That is entirely normal. That's one of the purposes of the lender contracting a mortgage report and valuation and asking its solicitor to act on it.

If it's a firm recommended by a national chain EA, chances are it's a conveyancing warehouse in an industrial estate somewhere obscure and your contact is unlikely to be aware there used to be coal mining in England, never mind under your prospective purchase.

Whatever the EA did or didn't do, your lender and surveyor checks will negate that.

AdrianC

allanwhyte77 wrote: »

I'm just wondering now if the EA told the solicitor not to do the coal search

No, you told the solicitor not to do the coal search. You're the one who hired the solicitor, and told him what you did and didn't want him to do.

He may not have suggested a coal search, but you agreed with that suggestion.

allanwhyte77

Id like to think the solicitor hasn't deliberately discouraged the coal mining search, it's not a conveyancing warehouse. I'll ring them in the morning and ask them why there's no coal mining search on the quote, depending on her reply, I'll decide if I want to continue using them for another property.

Miss_Samantha

The solicitor works for you so if you want this search carried out you tell him.

I do not know exactly what information such a search discloses. If it is only whether there is a mine underneath then it is not very useful if you already know that this is the case.

marksoton

allanwhyte77 wrote: »

The solicitors we're using was recommended by the EA who are selling the property, we asked them for a recommendation as we were on holiday when our offer was accepted. We aren't selling ourselves as it's a buy to let.

I really don't think you're cut out for this business...

Wow.

Richard_Webster

Apart from the view which on this forum seems generally agreed, which is not to use solicitors recommended by the agents I wonder whether you are worrying unnecssarily. When you ask a solicitor for a quote he will send out a list of charges that would normally apply. He cannot possibly cater for all eventualities. this deosn't mean that a mining search will not be done, when the solicitor checks the details.

Apart from that, if you are looking for competitive estimates, although it may be more accurate for the cost of a mining search to be included if the property is in a mining area, if a solicitor does this and the cost of searches given by him is higher than that given by other firms, he may lose the business because most people don't ask detailed questions about why one figure is higher than another - they go for the cheapest.

So the fact that a mining search was not included in the original estimate does not mean that it would not be done. If a solicitor is dealing with a property out of his normal area he should check the list of areas where mining searches are necessary. If he doesn't advise that a mining search is done if the property is in one of those areas he would be negligent.

In this case it really wouldn't be very difficult to ask the solicitor to make sure he deos such a search, would it?

allanwhyte77

I'm right in thinking that a house over a shallow mine between two shafts is best avoided?

davidmcn

kingstreet wrote: »

Unless you use a solicitor who knows a given area well, they may not be aware of past mining activity. They will therefore wait until a professional tells them what's needed.

No, as professionals they will know that one of their duties (to the mortgage lender at least) is to punch the postcode into the Coal Authority's website and check whether it's an area where coal reports are recommended, irrespective of what the surveyors think.