Do I need to do searches??

flyer

Hi lisyloo. With all due respect, I wasn't suggesting I know more than my solicitor. She has recommended, not advised. There is a subtle difference. All I'm doing is seeking people's views and hopefully someone on here has been through a similar experience. If it was a £400k house in a street, I would have no hesitation, but it's a £50k flat on the 4th floor, so no road adoption, building regs etc issues.

SmashedAvocado. Thanks for your advice. Is title part of the searches? I can easily check that on Land Registry I believe?

AnotherJoe

Depends if you know the area. I've twice bought for cash where i know the area well (two different places), and its already built up so there are no new roads going to be built, no issues with mines, or contaminated land, or new houses built etc etc etc. Searches would have been a complete waste of money. I wasn't asked to sign any disclaimers in either case.

SmashedAvacado

flyer wrote: »

Hi lisyloo. With all due respect, I wasn't suggesting I know more than my solicitor. She has recommended, not advised. There is a subtle difference. All I'm doing is seeking people's views and hopefully someone on here has been through a similar experience. If it was a £400k house in a street, I would have no hesitation, but it's a £50k flat on the 4th floor, so no road adoption, building regs etc issues.

SmashedAvocado. Thanks for your advice. Is title part of the searches? I can easily check that on Land Registry I believe?

Searches will reveal a number of things that might be relevant to the property. This is part of the title investigation undertaken by lawyers which includes a review of the legal title as registered with the land registry. You are seeking to save a couple of hundred quid, and any buyer (or future lender) will want searches, so is it not better for you to make your buying decision with your eyes open rather than gambling that there are no problems.

AnotherJoe

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

Searches will reveal a number of things that might be relevant to the property. This is part of the title investigation undertaken by lawyers which includes a review of the legal title as registered with the land registry. You are seeking to save a couple of hundred quid, and any buyer (or future lender) will want searches, so is it not better for you to make your buying decision with your eyes open rather than gambling that there are no problems.

In many cases you won't be gambling because it will be clear what problems there might be and you can rules them out. Eg compulsory purchase for new motorway or rail route is planned, or plan to turn next door into a kebab shop. Also, searches are only a snapshot in time. If someone puts in that planning application for a kebab shop two months after you bought, or the government in a years time decides a new rail link in just the ticket, searches wouldn't have helped.