A local authority search is a process that is conducted by your solicitor or conveyancer when you purchase a property and it is a vital part of the house buying process that helps protect you against otherwise unforeseen circumstances. A recent copy of the search may, alternatively, be provided in the Home Information Pack that every seller needs to provide but these can become obsolete if an extended period has passed between the house first being marketed and it being sold.

The charge for a local authority land search is one of the disbursements associated with buying a property and while it varies from local authority to local authority and is prone to change at any time you should expect to pay about £100 to £150 for the search.

When a search request is submitted to a local authority they are obliged to provide a response within the statutory target of ten days although many will provide the results much quicker than this. The local authority search forms a time sensitive part of the Home Information Pack and a house cannot be marketed until this pack is complete and present.

The search itself will at the very least determine whether any money is still owed by the property to the council, whether there are any preservation orders for trees and other natural items on the land, and whether any planned future developments are likely to affect the property and its new owner. This is all important information, anyway, and your solicitor will be able to quickly and accurately determine any problems.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 1:08 pm and is filed under About Conveyancing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.