Transaction hall
Searches, title and what the paperwork is for
The legal stage of a purchase answers one question in several parts: what exactly is being bought, what comes with it, and what is attached to it that cannot be seen on a viewing.
| Strand | Question it answers | Typical findings |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Who owns it and on what terms | Registered extent, class of title, rights and burdens recorded against it |
| Boundaries and extent | Where the property stops | Plan does not match the fence line; a strip is unregistered; a shared access |
| Rights and easements | What crosses the land and what the land crosses | A right of way, drainage through a neighbour, shared drive, services under the garden |
| Covenants | What the owner has promised not to do | Restrictions on alteration, business use, parking or building on part of the plot |
| Local authority search | What the authority knows about it | Planning history, enforcement, road adoption status, nearby schemes |
| Drainage and water | Who is responsible for the pipes | Public sewer crossing the plot, private drainage, responsibility for a shared run |
| Environmental and area searches | What the ground and surroundings are like | Flood exposure, former land use, ground stability, other locally relevant matters |
| Leasehold particulars | What the lease actually says, where relevant | Term remaining, service charge basis, consents required, obligations on the owner |
Why the plan and the fence disagree
Registered plans generally show the general extent of a property, not a precisely surveyed line. Fences move, hedges grow, previous owners come to informal arrangements. Small discrepancies are extremely common and are usually resolved by asking the seller to state what has been treated as the boundary and for how long. Large ones, or ones involving access, deserve real attention before exchange.
Covenants and why old ones still matter
A restrictive covenant is a promise attached to the land rather than to the person, so it can survive many changes of ownership. Some are ancient and unenforceable in practice; some are recent and very much enforced, particularly on estates with a management structure. The important thing is to know they exist before making plans that depend on ignoring them.
What a search does and does not cover
Searches ask specific bodies specific questions about a specific address. A local authority search reports what that authority holds about the property; it does not report what a neighbouring authority holds, nor what is proposed but not yet recorded, nor what a neighbour intends. Buyers who expect a search to describe the future of the area are asking a question no search is designed to answer.
Alterations without paperwork
Where work has been done that should have been consented, the missing consent is itself a defect in the title package. There are established routes for dealing with it, and which one is appropriate is a matter for the conveyancer. What matters practically is that this is discovered early, because resolving it takes time and the discovery frequently arrives late.
Leasehold, in outline
Where a home is held on a lease, the buyer is acquiring a long right to occupy on stated terms rather than the land itself. The terms are the substance: how long remains, what is charged and on what basis, what the owner may and may not do without consent, and who is responsible for the structure. A short remaining term changes both the value and the financing of the property, which is why it is one of the first things a lender asks about.
Why it takes so long
Every strand above depends on a third party answering. Each answer can generate a further enquiry, and each further enquiry restarts the wait. The legal stage is not slow because the work is difficult; it is slow because it is a chain of correspondence in which no one party can move faster than the one it is waiting for.