Sellers Property Information Form (SPIF)

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Introduction to the Sellers Property Information Form

This form is part of the Law Society's National Conveyancing Protocol and should be completed by the seller(s). This chapter will take you through the Seller's Property Information Form 4th Edition produced by the Law Society and distributed by Oyez Legal Forms. I am unable for reasons of copyright to reproduce that form here, however if you are selling a property and require a form you may at your own risk but free of charge use my own sellers property information form which I have prepared personally as an alternative to the "Official" version.  Click herefor a copy.

The seller should answer carefully and honestly, since the answers he gives are binding on him and form part of the contract. If the seller does not know the answer to any of the questions he should answer "not known" or "not to my knowledge" or some variation. He should not leave the question blank and should certainly not answer "no" unless he is certain that is the case. An answer of "not known" etc. is deemed to mean just that, and does not imply that any investigations or enquiries have been carried out by the seller prior to giving his answer.

The property information form is split into sections, and the questions are largely self-explanatory however there are a few points to note and we will go through them here:-

1. Boundaries

This section asks the seller to state which boundaries he believes he is responsible for and which he has maintained/repaired. It also asks whether any boundaries have been moved during the last 20 years. The seller is not necessarily expected to know who owns the boundaries, nor have knowledge of the property stretching back 20 years, and need only answer to the best of his knowledge. The buyer's solicitor should still check the title to see if it states the actual legal position regarding boundaries and report to his client if it is different from the position in practice.

2. Disputes and Complaints

This section of the property information form asks whether there have been any complaints by or against the seller. This could be a dispute over parking, loud music, a planning application etc. The seller should disclose any dispute, however irrelevant it may seem. There have been cases of sellers being sued very heavily for failure to disclose their "neighbours from hell". The seller should give as much information as possible, using a separate sheet of paper if necessary. If the dispute is resolved, he should advise how and when it was resolved. If insufficient information is given, the buyer's solicitor ought to ask for more details as part of his initial enquiries.

3. Notices

In this section the seller should disclose any notices served or received which may affect the property. This could be a notice of a planning application, notice of planned roadworks, a noise abatement notice, or even a note from a neighbour of his intention to do some work to his property. The key to the seller protecting himself is to make the fullest disclosure possible in the sellers property information form, so giving irrelevant information is preferable to giving an incomplete picture. If not already provided, the buyer's solicitor should ask for copies of any notices to be passed on to his client.

4. Guarantees

There is very little that needs to be said about this section. The seller should list all the guarantees affecting the property and if not already supplied the buyer's solicitor should ask for copies, and also confirmation that the originals will be handed over on completion. This is a good place for the buyer's solicitor to gain an indication of whether any works have been done to the property. There is a section later in the property information form which deals with that very subject, however sometimes inevitably sellers will complete it incorrectly. If there is a guarantee listed for, say, a replacement roof, which isn't mentioned in the "Changes to the Property" section, then enquiries should still be raised.

5. Services

This section asks questions about what services are connected to the property. You should note the request for a copy of the seller's water bill. Some conveyancers will rely on this as evidence that the property is connected to mains water and mains drainage, the theory being that if the seller is being billed for both water and drainage services then there must be a connection. What this will not of course show is the location of the nearest public sewer and water main. There will sometimes be a long stretch of private pipework for which the property owner will be at least partly responsible. Furthermore, rights of use and of access to repair will be required where a private drain crosses other properties. Also, a water bill will not show whether there is a public sewer or water main within the boundary of the property. The water authority has a statutory right of access to such public pipes and they cannot be built over without the authority's consent, therefore a public sewer or water pipe within the boundary could restrict the way in which the property can be extended. Also, were the solicitor aware that there was a public pipe within the boundary he would need to check that it had not already been built upon, and if so, whether consent was obtained. The consent of the water authority in these circumstances is known as a "Build Over Agreement". This section does go on to ask whether any pipes, wires etc. cross the property but clearly a seller cannot necessarily be relied upon to know the answers conclusively.

Not all properties will be served by mains drainage. Some properties, particularly in rural areas, will instead drain to a septic tank or to a private treatment plant. If the former, the following additional enquiries ought to be raised, unless the information is already provided:-

"In relation to the septic tank please let us have replies to the following:-

a) Please mark the location of the tank on a copy of the filed plan

b) Unless the tank is within the boundary of the property please provide evidence of the necessary rights of drainage and access for repair

c) With how many properties is the tank shared?

d) Unless the tank exclusively serves this property, what arrangements are in place with respect to maintenance, repair and emptying costs?

e) How often should the tank be emptied?

f) When was it last emptied and what was the cost?

g) Please provide details of the company usually employed to empty the tank

h) When was it last serviced/inspected?

i) So far as the seller is aware, are there any outstanding items of repair or maintenance in respect of the tank?"

If the property drains to a private treatment plant then similar enquiries to points a, b, c, d, h & i should be raised. In addition, the plant will need to discharge the treated sewage and for this a "Consent to Discharge" from the Environment Agency will be required. The purchaser's solicitor should ask for a copy. Without consent, the property owner could be prevented from discharging sewage at any time. This would mean that the property had no way of discarding sewage which would of course have very serious consequences.

6. Sharing with Neighbours

Section 6 asks for information on shared rights and services etc. There may be a shared driveway or drain. Any formal arrangements ought to be revealed by the deeds, though this will not always be the case. The purchaser should be made aware of any informal arrangements, whether he will be legally obliged to observe them or not, since it is likely his new neighbours will expect them to continue.

7. Arrangements and Rights

Since any formal arrangements will be revealed by the deeds, this section deals with informal arrangements. The deeds might for example say that a driveway is the responsibility of just one property, but in practice the cost of maintenance etc might be shared. This section is also a good place to pick up on any rights that may be missing from the deeds. Sometimes for example there may an accessway or drive that in practice is shared between two or more properties, but at law there are no rights granted to one or more the properties. An example is a side passage between two terraced properties. If the when the two properties were split into separate titles the conveyance was done correctly then the passage should be split down the middle, each property owning one half and having rights over the other, and both properties being obliged to contribute an equal portion of the cost of any repair or maintenance. In reality however this is quite often missed and one property owns the whole passage while the other has no rights. When this occurs the conveyancer should enquire for what purpose the passage is used in order to assess its importance to the enjoyment of the property. It is important that the conveyancer advises his client that he does not have a legal right to use it and could therefore be prevented from doing so at any time. Often this is the only action that need be taken, however it may sometimes be that indemnity insurance and/or a statutory declaration is also called for.

8. Occupiers

Section 8 asks whether anyone other than the seller is in occupation of the property. This is important as any adult in actual occupation of a property can potentially acquire rights to remain in occupation even after the owner has sold. These are commonly known as "squatters' rights". The purchaser's conveyancer must ask the seller's conveyancer to confirm that prior to exchange all occupiers sign an additional clause in the contract waiving their rights in favour of the purchaser.

Where the occupier is a tenant, the situation is different. In that case, the seller must serve a "notice to quit", that is to say a notice that the tenancy is to be terminated, on the tenant. The purchaser's conveyancer should ask to see a copy of the notice, ask the seller to confirm that the notice has been served, and also ask to see a copy of the tenancy agreement. This is so that he can be sure the notice to quit is valid. For example the seller may give notice to the tenant that he must vacate in 1 month, whereas the tenancy agreement may stipulate that the tenant is entitled to 2 months notice. If this is the case then the notice would not be valid and the tenant would not be obliged to vacate on completion. The tenant can of course agree to terminate the tenancy early, however this must be evidenced in writing.

9. Changes to the Property

This is probably one of the most important sections of the sellers property information form for conveyancers. If there have been any alterations, extensions or additions to the property then the conveyancer should consider whether planning permission, building regulations approval or consent under any covenant might have been required. Planning permission and building regulations approval will be dealt with more thoroughly in a separate chapter, but as a basic rule of thumb, if any work has been carried out to the property within the last 10 years for which planning permission and/or building regulations approval was granted then copies should be obtained. If permission/approval should have been sought but was not then the purchaser's conveyancer should consider either asking the seller to obtain the same retrospectively or to supply indemnity insurance. The same considerations apply to consent required under a covenant, save that the "enforcement period" is 20 years.

Point 9.1(f) of the SPIF asks whether any replacement windows have been fitted, and if so, when. As of 1st April 2002, the building regulations relating to double glazing changed, so that all new installations had to have the benefit of building regulations approval. A scheme known as the Fenestration Scheme was set up, and is run by an organisation called FENSA. Window installers who are registered with FENSA can self-certificate their own work, thus obviating the need for a separate inspection and certificate by building control. For windows and doors fitted on or after 1st April 2002 the purchaser's conveyancer should ask to see a copy of the FENSA certificate. As part of the scheme, installers are required to provide a 10 year insurance backed guarantee, and a copy of the same should be obtained together with confirmation that the original will be handed over on completion. In the absence of either a FENSA certificate or building regulations completion certificate, indemnity insurance should be considered.

10. Planning and Building Control

This follows on from section 9. The seller should state here whether planning permission, building regulations approval or covenant consent was obtained for changed mentioned in section 9. It also asks whether the property is a listed building and/or whether it is in a conservation area. Any changes to a listed building, however minor, may require listed buildings consent. This is in addition to planning permission and building regulations approval. The grant of planning permission does not in any way imply the grant of listed building consent. Carrying out work to a listed building without consent is a criminal offence. Furthermore, there is no time limit during which enforcement action must be taken - the owner of the property can be forced to restore it at any time, whether or not it was they who carried out the alterations. As far as the writer is aware, it is not possible to obtain indemnity insurance for lack of listed building consent, which means the only solution would be to obtain retrospective consent, which of course could be refused. The implications of carrying out work without consent should be clearly explained to a purchaser of a listed building.

If a property is in a conservation area, then conservation area consent (in addition to planning permission) may be required for certain alterations. Often this will only apply to demolitions, though the purchaser's conveyancer should check with the local authority in each case.

Conveyancers should note that the local authority search will say whether or not a property is a listed building/in a conservation area, and in the case of a conflict between the search and the seller's comments in the Property Information Form, the search prevails.

11. Expenses

This question is self-explanatory and does not require expansion, save that if the seller answers yes then the fullest information should be provided to the purchaser, which may mean that further enquiries are required.

12, 13 & 14

The last 3 sections of the sellers property information form simply attempt to gather information about the seller's ability to proceed and the state of the chain, in order that the purchaser will have a better idea of whether there is likely to be a delay before the seller is ready to exchange.

Sellers Property Information Form Part II

This is the subject of much debate. After its introduction, it was generally agreed that solicitors should not be obliged to complete it, since it placed an unfair onus on them. After all, the purpose of the Seller's Property Information Form was to collect information from the seller. It is often impractical for a conveyancer to search through old archived files, and gone are the days when we can be expected to remember each client we have ever acted for.

The argument for completing the form was recently rekindled however, when the Law Society published guidance stating that solicitors who did not obtain replies to the SPIF Part II may be considered negligent. This has led to some practitioners arguing that failure to obtain replies would be in breach of the CML obligation to carry out "all necessary searches and enquiries". The result is that generally, the seller's conveyancer will either continue to refuse to complete the form, or will give answers that are sufficiently non-committal so as to remove any risk to themselves of mis-representation. If answers are given however then as a minimum the seller's conveyancer should check through the deeds and documents which are with his client's current file and provide any additional information as may be revealed, and perhaps this is a fair compromise.

Regards

Free Conveyancing Advice

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