Which searches are necessary?

ecclesto

I am starting the task of house hunting. I am a cash buyer living in a rented house so to all intents and purposes, a very good prospect as a buyer. Which searches are really necessary bearing in mind that I know the area and there is no sign of subsidence or mining activity? Can I go to the council and see if there are any building plans around the area I want to move to? I have just started the process of getting conveyancing quotes from solicitors. I also want to place the new property in "trust" for my children. Is this a safe way of protecting the house from being sold to pay any home fee? Whilst I appreciate some people will take exception to this, my mum's property had to be sold to fund her care fees and I don't want this to happen to my children

G_M

As a cash buyer, you can make your own decisions about searches. Mortgage lenders often insist on x, y, z.

Yes of course you should visit the council - you should do that anyway! You should also talk to the neighbours, the postman, the publican, the cornershop owner etc - they will all tell you more than any search (or the seller).

Consider what information each search will give you and decide if you need it or not.

If you plan to live in the property, the LA will consider your trust plan to be 'deprivation of assets' - a clear attempt to circumvent the care support laws and make me and other taxpayers pay for your care when you can perfectly well afford to pay for it yourself.

If you want to explore such options, take professional advice from a solicitor specialising in wills, trusts and probate.

davidmcn

You generally don't need to visit the council these days, just visit their website if you want to see planning applications, committee meeting minutes etc.

p00hsticks

ecclesto wrote: »

I also want to place the new property in "trust" for my children. Is this a safe way of protecting the house from being sold to pay any home fee? Whilst I appreciate some people will take exception to this, my mum's property had to be sold to fund her care fees and I don't want this to happen to my children

You'll need to be very careful that you don't end up homeless if your children later go bankrupt or have a messy divorce. And your children may not thank you when they come to buy their own property and find that they potentially face paying additional stamp duty and/or capital gains tax that they weren't expecting,,,

skyegurl

To be fair considering that England is the only part of the UK where you have to fund your own social care (I have had relatives dumped onto it who obviously didn't need it) then to be honest its fair game as far as I am concerned

always_sunny

skyegurl wrote: »

To be fair considering that England is the only part of the UK where you have to fund your own social care (I have had relatives dumped onto it who obviously didn't need it) then to be honest its fair game as far as I am concerned

Who else should fund it? Tax payers completely unrelated to the person?