Do I have to read the actual conveyancer searches documents?

princeofpounds

It makes sense to look through the whole thing, although you don't necessarily need to read every word.

It's true that your professional advisors should highlight the important parts. However, there can be things which your advisor understands are obvious, but you do not. Or similarly, things that you understand about the property having visited it in person, but your advisor does not.

Many times when we see problems on these boards from people getting surprises after completing, it's for one of those two reasons.

Sandtree

I'm certainly of the opinion that its better to make an informed decision about if to proceed with the purchase than to blindly trust your advisors and then end up having to try to sue them when it comes to light they made a mistake (especially as advisors normally have you sign things saying you have read/understood the materials etc)

Its not fun or exciting, you may have a lot of questions to ask them but thats what you are paying them for.

owenjt

HarveyNichols99 said:

But am I supposed to read and understand the official searches document? They're about 150 pages and quite technical. Or is the summary enough for a buyer. 

In short, yes! You're spending several hundred thousand pounds, the biggest purchase you've ever made, so you really need to spend the time reading through them properly. I wouldn't trust a conveyancer to go through it with a fine-tooth comb.

getmore4less

You also need to cross reference them with your own research.
Check the local plan that will have interesting information about what may happen

Get on the planning portal, if lucky there will be a map interface,  look for anything that may effect your chosen property.

The planning searches are often quite poor in what they pick up  you need to check.

Also check what you are buying,  boundaries etc.  do not rely on conveyancer to spot irregularities.

Tiglet2

If you don't read the documents and just rely on the solicitor's 'report', you will find it difficult to pursue a case in the future about something you think you weren't told about.  As other posters have mentioned, the 'report' will highlight certain things that the solicitor needs to point out to you, but 'buyer beware' means you also have to do your own due diligence and query anything you don't understand.  Remember, the solicitor does not visit the property, so you are best placed to see things when you view that the solicitor is unlikely to know about.

user1977

Tiglet2 said:

If you don't read the documents and just rely on the solicitor's 'report', you will find it difficult to pursue a case in the future about something you think you weren't told about.  

If it's anything material, then the solicitors ought to be highlighting it to you. It's not much of a defence for them to say it was buried among the reams of stuff they copied to you. Same principle with things like title conditions. That's the whole point of paying the solicitor to provide you with their advice.

lookstraightahead

user1977 said:

Tiglet2 said:

If you don't read the documents and just rely on the solicitor's 'report', you will find it difficult to pursue a case in the future about something you think you weren't told about.  

If it's anything material, then the solicitors ought to be highlighting it to you. It's not much of a defence for them to say it was buried among the reams of stuff they copied to you. Same principle with things like title conditions. That's the whole point of paying the solicitor to provide you with their advice.

Would you say the same with deeds? As I had visited our house, it became apparent that the garden wasn't what it should have been. The professionals don't visit the property.

you're paying just hundreds of pounds for a solicitor. You're paying hundreds of thousands for your home. Pointless not reading and then playing the blame game for years.

user1977

lookstraightahead said:

user1977 said:

Tiglet2 said:

If you don't read the documents and just rely on the solicitor's 'report', you will find it difficult to pursue a case in the future about something you think you weren't told about.  

If it's anything material, then the solicitors ought to be highlighting it to you. It's not much of a defence for them to say it was buried among the reams of stuff they copied to you. Same principle with things like title conditions. That's the whole point of paying the solicitor to provide you with their advice.

Would you say the same with deeds? As I had visited our house, it became apparent that the garden wasn't what it should have been. The professionals don't visit the property.

Not in relation to the extent of the property, no, but they should be pointing that out to you and asking you to check that the title plan matches what you think you're buying.

Tiglet2

user1977 said:

Tiglet2 said:

If you don't read the documents and just rely on the solicitor's 'report', you will find it difficult to pursue a case in the future about something you think you weren't told about.  

If it's anything material, then the solicitors ought to be highlighting it to you. It's not much of a defence for them to say it was buried among the reams of stuff they copied to you. Same principle with things like title conditions. That's the whole point of paying the solicitor to provide you with their advice.

Yes I agree that the solicitor ought to be highlighting anything material. A fair amount of the report though is a basic template with matters pertinent to the particular property added and brought to the client's attention.  It will also direct the client to read the appropriate paperwork enclosed within.

 It just puts me in mind of a thread fairly recently when someone had bought a property, moved in and then several months later was querying why the garage they thought they'd bought, was not included in the title, which turned out to be on a different title and no-one queried this with either the selling or purchasing solicitors.   

Also, buyers need to read the management packs/LPE1 so that they are aware of the various consents needed (and the fees applicable) when they are wanting pets or alterations made etc   Solicitors don't always make a point of telling clients in their reports about such matters as they wouldn't know if the client intends to make alterations or whether or not having a pet in a leasehold property is important to them, unless the client had raised an enquiry.  So the solicitor might just highlight that the client needs to read the restrictive covenants in the lease.

It would be ideal if the solicitor's report highlights absolutely anything which the buyer might feasibly need to be aware of, but the reality is that if the report suggests the client reads the accompanying paperwork, then the solicitor assumes that the client would do so, particularly when the client sends back their signed paperwork.

Schwarzwald

To me this is a bit like how an insurance works: you pay a little fee in order to prevent a potential financial ruin related to an unlikely but unfortunate event.

Reading the documents is similar: you spent 3-4 hours going through in detail in order to avoid an unpleasant situation that could haunt you for years.

 You don’t have to, your choice, but probably advisable.