When someone buys a property, the law expects them to find out what they are buying — defects, restrictions and hidden liabilities are the buyer's problem to discover before they are committed. That makes pre-contract searches one of the most important jobs a buyer's solicitor does: they are how you uncover what the title and the seller won't tell you, while your client can still walk away, renegotiate or protect themselves. Get them wrong, and the consequences land on you.
This lesson builds your knowledge from the ground up: what each search is, what it reveals, and how to act on the results.
- Caveat Emptor and the Role of Searches — why the buyer bears the risk, and where searches sit in the transaction.
- The Local Search — the LLC1 and CON29, and what the local authority can tell you about planning, roads and notices.
- Drainage, Water and Environmental Searches — sewer connections, flooding from public sewers, and contaminated land liability.
- Searches for Unregistered Land and Chancel Repair — land charges against past owners, and the chancel repair trap.
- Overriding Interests of Occupiers — hidden beneficial interests, and how to protect the buyer through enquiry, inspection and overreaching.
- Location-Specific Searches and Other Title Risks — mining, flood zones, company sellers and ransom strips.