Pre-contract searches and enquiries - Range and purpose of s...

Learning Outcomes

This article outlines the range and purpose of pre-contract searches and enquiries in property transactions, including:

• Legal, physical, and practical matters affecting property use, enjoyment, and value
• The essential role of searches within a solicitor’s due diligence
• Rationale for core searches and enquiries
• Universal conveyancing searches versus transaction- or location-specific investigations
• Implications of the caveat emptor principle
• Interpretation and communication of search results and associated risks to clients
• Evaluation of findings and appropriate follow-up options (further investigation, indemnity insurance, contractual negotiation)
• Application across registered and unregistered land, freehold and leasehold, and residential and commercial property
• Regulatory expectations and legal consequences of omissions, including professional negligence exposure

SQE1 Syllabus

For SQE1, you are required to understand the range and purpose of pre-contract searches and enquiries in property transactions, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

• The principle of caveat emptor and practical outcomes for buyer and solicitor.
• Standard and additional pre-contract searches and enquiries: local authority, water and drainage, environmental, flood, title, chancel repair, mining, commons registration, highways, and company/insolvency searches.
• Deciding which searches and enquiries are compulsory, recommended, or specific for different contexts, property types, and client requirements.
• The solicitor's responsibilities in conducting, reviewing, and reporting on these searches; interpreting search outcomes; managing client and lender risk; recommending further steps (including insurance and contractual adjustments).
• The regulatory and legal consequences of omitting necessary searches or failing to report/advice on material findings.
• The significance and operation of the Law Society Conveyancing Protocol, the Property Information Form (TA6), Fittings and Contents Form (TA10), and Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE).
• Interaction between searches/enquiries and completion requirements, lender due diligence, and the passing of risk.

Test Your Knowledge

Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.

1. What is the principle of caveat emptor, and how does it affect the buyer’s responsibilities in a property transaction?
2. Name three standard pre-contract searches that should be considered in every property purchase.
3. What is the main difference between a local land charges search (LLC1) and enquiries of the local authority (CON29)?
4. In what circumstances might a mining search or a chancel repair liability search be required?

Introduction

Pre-contract searches and enquiries are a fundamental part of the conveyancing process in England and Wales. Their central role is to uncover information about a property's legal and physical status which may not be discoverable from the title evidence, registration documents, or a basic physical inspection. The thoroughness and appropriateness of these investigations are driven by the doctrine of caveat emptor—'let the buyer beware'—which underpins property transactions in the jurisdiction.

Key Term: caveat emptor
The legal principle placing the onus on the buyer to investigate the property and discover any defects or issues before the exchange of contracts. The seller is only under a limited duty to disclose facts about the title and must not mislead the buyer, but has no obligation to volunteer information regarding physical defects, neighbour disputes, or breaches of planning or building regulations unless specifically asked or unless an answer is sought through formal enquiries.

In practice, this requires buyers and their solicitors to be proactive and meticulous, making the appropriate searches and raising comprehensive enquiries to ensure no material adverse matters are missed which could affect their future enjoyment, use, or cost-ownership of the property. The responsibility is magnified where the buyer seeks mortgage finance, as lenders typically require assurance that the property is a sound security.

Why Pre-Contract Searches and Enquiries Matter

By commissioning pre-contract searches and raising targeted enquiries, the buyer’s solicitor seeks to identify risks that may not be apparent from the title alone, including those that may affect the property’s value, use, habitability, or the buyer’s future liability. These include, but are not limited to:

• Statutory or regulatory restrictions (such as planning consents, Tree Preservation Orders, conservation area designations, and smoke control zones).
• Existing rights affecting the land (restrictive covenants, easements, or rights of way—whether registered or overriding).
• Breaches of planning control or building regulations (and any outstanding enforcement actions).
• Environmental hazards (e.g., contamination, flood risk, proximity to historic mining operations).
• Unadopted roads and drains (potential ongoing maintenance costs and adoption responsibilities).
• Outstanding liabilities (including chancel repair liability).
• Insurance issues, occupiers' rights, or interests (particularly those giving rise to overriding interests in registered land).

Any one of these matters, left undisclosed and unresolved before exchange, can lead to significant and sometimes irreparable financial or legal exposure for the buyer.

Main Types of Pre-Contract Searches and Enquiries

Most property transactions require a selection of several core searches and additional tailored enquiries. The choice depends on the property's characteristics, location, intended use, and the requirements of the client and any lender.

Local Authority Search

A fundamental search in every transaction, composed of two distinct parts:

• Local Land Charges Search (LLC1): Applied for using the LLC1 form, it discloses entries in the local land charges register which burden the property, such as financial charges (e.g., for road adoption/non-recoverable costs), planning consents, restrictive covenants imposed by public authorities, listed building status, conservation areas, tree preservation orders, and other statutory restrictions.

• Enquiries of the Local Authority (CON29): These standard enquiries, made on the CON29 form, cover a wide range of information known to but not forming part of the land charges register. Topics include planning history and decisions, building regulations approvals or breaches, proposed road and rail works, traffic and parking schemes, environmental notices (e.g., contaminated land), the status of road adoption, and upcoming compulsory purchase orders. The form is supplemented by CON29O (optional enquiries), tailored to the property's locality or circumstances (e.g., pollution, common land/village green, noise abatement).

Key Term: local authority search
A comprehensive search composed of an LLC1 and CON29/CON29O, revealing statutory restrictions, planning consents, building regulations, environmental matters, and other public authority proposals or constraints affecting the property, raised with the relevant local authority.

The distinction between LLC1 and CON29 is that LLC1 exclusively relates to charges recorded on the statutory register, while CON29 covers a broader range of matters, some past, present, or proposed, known to the local authority.

Water and Drainage Search

Conducted using the CON29DW form (for residential transactions), this search is made to the regional water company. It confirms whether the property is connected to:

• A public water supply.
• Public sewers for both foul and surface water.
• Whether any water or drainage assets (e.g., pipes, sewers) cross the property.
• The current adoption status of water and sewer systems, which affects maintenance responsibility and possible liabilities.
• Liability for water charges and potential liability where private or shared drains exist.

If the property is not connected to the public sewer and water mains, future maintenance expenses, environmental compliance, or the need to upgrade can fall on the new owner.

Key Term: water and drainage search
A statutory search with the relevant water company providing confirmation of the property's water supply, drainage arrangements (public or private), asset location, and adoption status of drains and sewers.

Environmental Search

Environmental concerns increasingly factor into property transactions, especially where the land is previously developed, near industrial sites, or close to existing sources of contamination. The duties imposed by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 mean current owners can be liable for historical contamination.

Key features identified by environmental searches include:

• Statutory designations for contaminated land and notices under the EPA.
• Flood risk (river, coastal, surface, groundwater).
• Landfill site proximity, subsidence, soil stability.
• Former industrial or mining activities.
• Radon gas risks (in some areas).

A desktop environmental search compiles authoritative databases and provides a risk assessment. In identified risk cases, specialist environmental surveys (involving site testing/sampling) or environmental indemnity insurance may be recommended. For many lenders, a basic environmental screen is obligatory.

Key Term: environmental search
A survey or desktop report evaluating contamination risk, flood likelihood, ground stability, and other environmental threats based on local authority and environmental agency data.

Title Search

This is the central process of reviewing legal title and is always required, though the precise method depends on whether the property is registered or unregistered. For registered titles, official copies of the Land Registry title and plan are reviewed alongside documents noted within the register. For unregistered land, the seller must provide an epitome of title, comprising an unbroken chain of deeds evidencing ownership and all material rights, obligations, and disposals from a valid 'root of title' (usually at least 15 years old).

Key areas of focus include:

• Seller’s legal power and capacity to sell (including execution, capacity, co-ownership, attorney or personal representative status).
• Presence and sufficiency of rights or easements for property use.
• Existence of restrictive covenants or positive obligations.
• Overriding interests or rights of occupiers.
• Mortgages, equitable interests, trust arrangements or charges affecting the title.

Where defects, gaps, or ambiguous entries are present, searches are supplemented by requisitions or further enquiries. Title search outcomes inform additional steps, including the need for indemnity insurance or contract conditions.

Key Term: title search
Examination of official copies of the Land Registry entry (for registered land) or the epitome of title (for unregistered land), to verify ownership, root of title, and the presence of rights, covenants, or charges.

Chancel Repair Liability Search

Historical liability for the repair of the chancel of a parish church (under the Chancel Repairs Act 1932) may still affect some properties in England and Wales—even urban properties far from any parish church. Although chancel repair liability is no longer 'overriding' for post-2013 purchases of registered land, the risk remains, especially with unregistered land, or if registration has recently occurred and there has been no worthwhile disposal for value since 13 October 2013.

A chancel repair liability search is performed with commercial search providers and can indicate the presence of any liability. Where a risk is identified, indemnity insurance is usually the most practical means of protection.

Key Term: chancel repair liability search
Desktop search evaluating the risk that the property is subject to an obligation to contribute to nearby parish church chancel repairs.

Additional Searches

Certain attributes of the property (e.g., location, history, physical characteristics) will warrant additional specific searches, these include but are not limited to:

• Mining Search: For areas with historical or recent mining (coal, brine, tin, limestone). Reveals subsidence risk, existing or capped mine shafts, and whether claims have been made for damage.
• Index Map Search (SIM): To determine if any part of the land is already registered, or if there are cautions against first registration—mandatory for unregistered land purchases.
• Commons Registration Search: Relevant where the property is adjacent to or includes open land, forming or abutting registered common land or village green.
• Flood Search: Especially where the property is near watercourses, the coast, or known at-risk arrangements.
• Highways Search: Where access or road adoption is uncertain, especially if the property does not abut a publicly maintained highway.

Key Term: index map search
A Land Registry search using a site plan to identify registration status, overlapping titles, and interests in both registered and unregistered land.

• Company Search: Required where the seller (or a prior owner in unregistered land) is a company, both to check capacity and existence and to investigate security interests or insolvency.
• Bankruptcy/Insolvency Search: When acting for a lender or where purchase is funded by a loan to ensure borrower solvency.

Pre-Contract Enquiries of the Seller

Pre-contract enquiries are a set of standardised and transaction-specific questions raised with the seller, usually via the Property Information Form (TA6) and Fittings and Contents Form (TA10) in residential transactions, or the Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE) in commercial deals. These forms probe issues which might otherwise not be apparent, such as:

• Boundary clarity and disputes
• Alterations and their consent/regularisation (including planning and building regulations)
• Existing guarantees or warranties
• Occupation by others (e.g., tenants, licensees, family)
• Insurance claims and incidents (e.g., subsidence, flooding)
• Neighbour disputes
• Rights benefiting or burdening the land
• Outgoings and ongoing liabilities

The responses are legally significant: if the seller gives a misleading answer or omits to mention a material fact despite being directly asked, a claim for misrepresentation (innocent, negligent, or fraudulent) may arise.

Key Term: pre-contract enquiries
Standardised or tailored questions raised with the seller to obtain critical information about the property that is not evident from the register, searches, or a physical inspection.

Personal and Physical Inspections

A survey (e.g., valuation, homebuyer, or full structural survey) is always recommended to supplement legal searches and may often be required by the buyer’s lender. A personal inspection by the solicitor on behalf of the buyer, while less common in residential transactions, is recommended for spotting signs of physical or legal issues (e.g., evidence of occupation by others, encroachments, physical signs of easements or rights of way, or boundaries inconsistent with title).

Deciding Which Searches and Enquiries Are Appropriate

The buyer’s solicitor must exercise judgment on the scope of searches and enquiries, balancing the likely risks and costs. The selection process is governed by factors such as:

• Property location (e.g., industrial, rural, near water, in a coalfield): e.g., environmental, flooding, or mining risk.
• Property type and age (e.g., newbuilds: unadopted roads and sewers; old buildings: structural survey, chancel repair history).
• Planned use or change of use (e.g., conversion, extension, business use).
• The form of ownership (freehold, leasehold, or commonhold), seller’s legal capacity (company, personal representative, attorney), or co-ownership arrangements.

Key Term: pre-contract searches and enquiries
Searches and formal questions made of public authorities, statutory undertakings, third parties, and the seller to uncover legal and physical information material to the buyer's intended use and the property's value/marketability.

Properly matching the searches to the risk profile is important, as omitting a relevant search can result in the buyer acquiring a property subject to hidden defects or liabilities.

Worked Example 1.1

A client is purchasing a house in a former coal mining area. What additional search should the solicitor recommend?

Answer:
A mining search should be carried out to assess the risk of subsidence and reveal any past or proposed mining activity affecting the property.

Worked Example 1.2

The local search reveals that the road serving a property is not adopted by the local authority. What should the solicitor do?

Answer:
The solicitor should check the title for express rights of way, raise enquiries about maintenance arrangements, establish whether the buyer will have access over the road and what the ongoing or anticipated costs may be, and advise the client of potential liability for private maintenance or for bringing the road to adoptable standard if adoption is pending.

Worked Example 1.3

The seller’s replies to pre-contract enquiries indicate that a large extension was built without planning or building regulation approval. What are the key implications?

Answer:
Investigate further to ascertain the timing of the works. If still within the relevant enforcement time limit, require the seller to obtain retrospective consent or building regulation regularisation before exchange. If the time for enforcement has passed, consider indemnity insurance. Advise the buyer of the risk that the local authority may require alteration or removal of the works (for planning) or take action (for building control), which can also affect lender willingness and insurability.

Worked Example 1.4

A registered title for a rural property has a restrictive covenant dating from 1935 prohibiting use for anything other than a private dwelling. The buyer wishes to open a bed and breakfast. What steps are recommended?

Answer:
Review enforceability of the covenant, commission a detailed title search to confirm the benefiting land/party, explore the possibility of insurance against breach, and consider approaching the beneficiary for a formal release or modification. Advise the client regarding the risk of enforcement and the potential impact on value and use. Additionally, advise the client that express planning permission does not negate the operation of restrictive covenants.

Interpreting Search Results and Managing Risk

Upon receipt, solicitors must scrutinise all search results and replies to enquiries, applying both legal and practical analysis. Key responsibilities include:

• Reporting clearly and comprehensively to the client (and the lender, if joint representation or as required), identifying material risks, potential liabilities, or encumbrances.
• Where a search or enquiry indicates potential adverse matters (e.g., unadopted roads, restrictive covenants, contaminated land, occupier rights, defective consents), undertaking follow-up investigations, seeking further documentation, or raising further enquiries as needed.
• Considering insurance solutions for unresolved risks (e.g., chancel repair, defective title, breach of covenant, lack of building regulation documentation).
• Advising on contractual mechanisms (e.g., requirement for seller undertakings, special conditions, retentions from purchase money, indemnities) or negotiation (price reduction, conditional contracts).
• Ensuring all lender requirements are satisfied, reporting adverse matters and confirming that the security is not unduly prejudiced.
• Maintaining clear and auditable contemporaneous records of all advice, correspondence, analysis, and recommendations made to the client.

Indemnity Insurance and Risk Allocation

Where a risk cannot be resolved or eliminated (e.g., missing planning sign-off, historic breach of covenant, uncertain title right), indemnity insurance should be considered, with the cost and scope of cover negotiated as appropriate (it may be included in the contract as a seller obligation in certain scenarios).

Where the matter is too significant or the risk uninsurable, withdrawing from the transaction or renegotiating its terms may be the only viable option.

Exam Warning:
Failing to carry out appropriate searches or enquiries, or to advise the client on their outcome and significance, may result in professional negligence and expose the solicitor to liability. The buyer is not protected merely by an honest belief or by the fact the seller did not specifically conceal a defect. In addition, many lenders require their panel solicitors to comply with the standards set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook—this often exceeds the minimum due diligence standard required solely for the buyer, so solicitors must be alert to all panel requirements.

Revision Tip:
Check the lender’s requirements carefully before exchange. Indemnity insurance and specific searches may be donor-mandated by lenders, especially in newbuild, shared ownership, or high-value transactions, and lenders’ panels update requirements regularly.

Summary

Pre-contract searches and enquiries are an essential element of purchase due diligence in every property transaction. Together, they enable the buyer and their solicitor to uncover both legal and practical risks—matters which may affect the value, use, enjoyment, finance-ability, or cost of ownership of the property. The responsibility for selecting, commissioning, and interpreting searches rests on the buyer’s solicitor, representing the operation of the caveat emptor principle. Pre-contract searches also commonly include specialist or supplemental enquiries, dictated by the property’s location, type, and planned use, as well as lender demands. Careful, systematic reporting of searches and informed risk management—ranging from negotiation and indemnity insurance to, when necessary, advice against proceeding—are essential for discharging the solicitor’s duties, avoiding negligence, and protecting both client and lender from avoidable hazards.

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

• The doctrine of caveat emptor requires buyers to investigate the legal, physical, and practical status of property before exchange—seller disclosure is limited.
• A wide range of standard searches (local authority, water and drainage, environmental, title) and additional searches (chancel, mining, commons, highways) are available.
• Comprehensive pre-contract enquiries are raised of the seller to elicit information not apparent from documents or searches.
• Selection of searches is property- and transaction-specific: solicitors must match the search suite to the individual risk profile, lender requirements, and client plans.
• Search and enquiry results must be carefully assessed, reported to clients (and lenders), and followed up by further investigation, negotiation, insurance, or contractual protections as required.
• Failure to conduct due diligence or to advise on material findings may result in professional negligence.
• Indemnity insurance and contractual risk allocation are tools for addressing unresolvable or unquantifiable risks.
• The Law Society’s Protocols (TA6, TA10), Commercial Property Standard Enquiries, and the Lenders’ Handbook guide best practice and set expectations for both residential and commercial transactions.

Key Terms and Concepts

• caveat emptor
• local authority search
• water and drainage search
• environmental search
• title search
• chancel repair liability search
• pre-contract enquiries
• pre-contract searches and enquiries
• index map search