Whether you're a layman looking to understand your own transaction or a lawyer needing assistance with a client's conveyancing our step by step sale and purchase guides will lead you through the process while our mini guides will break the whole thing into manageable chunks and give a deep insight into the key issues and stages. Leasehold, freehold, unregistered, registered – we've got it all covered.
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So you want to have a go at your own conveyancing? First you should read about the risks, then if you're still happy to proceed, our guides will take you through each stage of the process telling you what to look out for and helping you avoid falling into expensive traps. Our subscription service will give you access to all of the documents you should need for your conveyancing and we can even supply you with the Land Registry Official Copies you'll need. Our general guides will cover all the obstacles you are likely to face and offer a practical solution. Have a look at our sale and purchase guides too.
A big part of the conveyancing process is the conveyancing searches. This section tells you all about them. What they are, how and when to order them and how to interpret the results. Each search has its own guide and you'll see they are separated into Standard (should be done in every case), Regional (area specific) and Optional (not essential but often useful tools for the would be purchaser). All buyers should beware that when you buy a property, the law assumes that you have seen the information that would have been revealed by searches whether or not you have actually carried them out, so you buy the property subject to the results.
Using a conveyancer to handle your conveyancing will greatly reduce the risk to you and sometimes, particularly if you are taking out a new mortgage, you will have no choice but to instruct a conveyancer. The good news is it doesn't have to break the bank. Get a free, instant quote here. We can also help with quick easy quotes for other moving related services.
Are you looking for the documents you'll need for your conveyancing transaction? Or official copies of the title or other documents from Land Registry. We can help you. Follow the links below.
This is a search of records relating waterways (rivers, canals, streams etc) which will reveal such things as ownership of and responsibility for the riverbank, fishing and mooring rights, licences to extract water and drainage rights. It is sometimes called a Rivers Authority Search.
When purchasing a property in close proximity to a waterway, or which has a waterway running through it, a waterways search should be considered. It may be that there are rights to access the land to fish, to moor boats, extract water or drain waste. Also, the land owner may be under an obligation to maintain the bank (and potentially the waterway itself). Alternatively the bank may be owned by the environment agency.
No doubt there are others, but the only provider of a British Waterways search I have so far found is Searchflow. Searches can be ordered online, though an account will need to be created, or by telephone.
I do not have an example search result and would be obliged to any reader who can e-mail me an example. Obviously any rights or responsibilities which are revealed should be reported to the purchaser. If there is an obligation to maintain the bank then enquiries should be raised as to exactly what is expected of the land owner and whether any work is required immediately.