Conveyancing Searches, Risk Management & Indemnity Policies

Property Searches

A market leader in conveyancing searches, delivered speedily by a professional, friendly team who offer the personal touch allied to high-quality customer service. Below is some of the main types of searches we offer. Please note a full range of searches will be available on your ordering platform along with full range of indemnity policies provided by our indemnity partner, Stuart Title. You can view some example reports at the bottom of this page.

Local Searches

We love data, but we also love accuracy. Local searches reveal information pertinent to the property in question including but not limited to highways, planning decisions, outstanding statutory notices and whether the property is subject to a tree preservation order. Our regulated Local Search is our core product; we take pride in delivering efficient, cost effective search reports that are compiled, and quality checked by our in house search experts.

Drainage & Water

Drainage and Water reports are a prerequisite for every transaction, providing you with key information pertaining to the water flow to and from the property. They reveal if a property is connected to mains water, mains drainage, whether there are any public sewers located within the boundary, surface water, proposed adoption of sewers and the basis of charging. We provide third party reports from each water authority in England and Wales, or you can choose our cost-effective regulated version.

Environmental

Under Part 2A of the environmental protection Act (EPA) 1990 it is possible to inherit environmental liability for a property, even where the owner has not actually caused the original pollution. Environmental reports are one of the most common additional reports and are considered a key part of the due diligence process, helping you to determine historical land use and any potential risk factors that may arise as a result. We offer a range of environmental reports each with differing levels of detail to suit your requirements.

Flood

The Environmental Agency estimates that there are approximately 5.2 million, or one in 6, properties in England that are at risk from Flood. A flood report will highlight if your client’s property is one of them.

Energy

Wind turbines and fracking will be familiar to most people living in the UK, as we continue to move towards more sustainable and greener energy sources. Similarly, transportation projects such as HS2 and Crossrail can be a cause for concern. You should consider whether your client is moving to an area that may be affected.

Planning Reports

Planning reports look deeper at the area surrounding your client’s potential new property, revealing nearby planning decision and proposals that can affect them, and potentially their re-sale value, further down the line. Planning reports also offer valuable information on local amenities in the area.

Mining & Ground Reports

Past and present mining activity causes all manner of ground hazards that can have an adverse effect on the built environment. There are various other ground hazards that should be considered as part of your duty of care to clients. Subsidence, coastal erosion, landslides and sinkholes are all common occurrences and can cause distress and a hefty repair bill. Understanding what’s beneath ground of your property is as vital a part of the conveyancing process as researching what’s above it.

Land Registry

It is the duty of the land registry to keep and maintain the Land Register where more than 23 million titles (evidence of ownership) are documented. The Land Registry provides organisations and individuals with a range of documents relating to those titles as well as providing registrations of unregistered land, interests such as a mortgage, lease or right of way. We can obtain these documents on your behalf.

Lawyer Check

The SRA take looking after client money very seriously, in their most recent Risk Outlook Report they state that “Everyone needs to remain vigilant for email modification fraud attempts and not rely on Confirmation of Payee. This fraud is a common threat, where criminals forge an email saying that bank details have changed.

Lawyer Checker’s Account and Entity Screen is an invaluable tool, allowing you to check the account details of the conveyancer on the other side prior to fund transfer.

ID / AML

Cyber-crime and fraud are a constant concern for property professionals. Criminals are employing ever more sophisticated techniques to divert client funds into their own pockets. It is important that your colleagues are trained to spot the tell-tale signs and act in accordance with your own AML processes, which should include carrying out AML Checks on every case.

We work with Smart Search and Thirdfort to support your compliance with AML regulations, performing checks against a number of databases to help you prove your client is who they say they are.