Charging order against a house

Lishah

Hi all,

I wanted to know when buying a house how do you find out if there is a charging order against it? I mean apart from the obvious way of asking the sellers. 

Do the buyers conveyancer solicitors as part of the searches check for charges on the property also? 

Thank you 

MEM62

Your solicitor will check that out.  

propertyrental

You can pay £3 and download the Title from the Land Registry. Then look at the Charges Register.

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

I'd always do this for a property I was seriously interested in. Another £3 gets you the Plan so you can check where the legal boundary is.

Postik

Out of interest, what difference would it make if there was a charging order against it?  I assume when the house is sold the charge is settled.

theartfullodger

propertyrental said:

You can pay £3 and download the Title from the Land Registry. Then look at the Charges Register.

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

I'd always do this for a property I was seriously interested in. Another £3 gets you the Plan so you can check where the legal boundary is.

And it also tells you who is actually registered as owners (might be different from what's been said), which lender any mortgage is with, and possibly other useful bits of info.  If there are leasehold & freehold titles, get both: And read carefully.

Point about boundary is important.  Compare that to where the fences are.... 

Only takes 5 mins, online, easy...

theartfullodger

Postik said:

Out of interest, what difference would it make if there was a charging order against it?  I assume when the house is sold the charge is settled.

Unless solicitors really are incompetent (I humble suggest don;t go with estate agent recommendation nor necessarily the cheapest...)

Lishah

Postik said:

Out of interest, what difference would it make if there was a charging order against it?  I assume when the house is sold the charge is settled.

Yea ur right, but I think sometimes the charge stops u from selling the property at all, I’m jus assuming. 

user1977

Lishah said:

Postik said:

Out of interest, what difference would it make if there was a charging order against it?  I assume when the house is sold the charge is settled.

Yea ur right, but I think sometimes the charge stops u from selling the property at all, I’m jus assuming. 

Only if you can't afford to pay it off. But the same would apply to, say, an ordinary mortgage, if you're in negative equity. It's not something to get specially concerned about as a buyer.

Is there a reason why you're asking?

dimbo61

You can also see if a Rentcharge is on the property  

Lishah

user1977 said:

Lishah said:

Postik said:

Out of interest, what difference would it make if there was a charging order against it?  I assume when the house is sold the charge is settled.

Yea ur right, but I think sometimes the charge stops u from selling the property at all, I’m jus assuming. 

Only if you can't afford to pay it off. But the same would apply to, say, an ordinary mortgage, if you're in negative equity. It's not something to get specially concerned about as a buyer.

Is there a reason why you're asking?

A property we’re looking to buy has a charge on it. I was just curious at what point in the conveyancing process the solicitors become aware of this. 

Postik

I think the house I bought had a charge on it by HMRC.  My solicitor queried it but I never saw or asked about the outcome of the query, I assume it was paid off from the proceeds.

As someone pointed out above, it's worth downloading the Title from the land registry website because it will also tell you if there is a Rentcharge against the property, and it will also tell you about any restrictive covenants and possible estate management companies.