Pre-contract searches and enquiries - Who conducts searches ...

Learning Outcomes

This article outlines pre-contract searches and enquiries and the buyer’s solicitor’s role, including:

• The buyer’s solicitor’s role and the caveat emptor rationale for the buyer-side investigative burden
• Core searches in most transactions (LLC1/CON29 local search, water and drainage, environmental, flood, chancel, mining) and circumstances for location- or transaction-specific searches (SIM, K15, Canal & River Trust, highways, railways)
• Distinction between local land charges searches (LLC1/CON29) and Land Charges Department searches (K15), and appropriate use cases
• Timing, application routes, and search platforms (including NLIS and commercial providers), and selection of appropriate searches for a given property
• The process for raising standard and additional pre-contract enquiries, seller replies, follow-up, misrepresentation risk, and solutions
• Professional duties and conduct obligations: conflicts of interest, confidentiality (particularly when acting for both lender and buyer), undertaking management, and duty of care in reporting
• Advice to clients and lenders based on search and enquiry results, recommended actions (e.g. indemnity insurance, deed of variation, survey, retentions, conditional exchange), and preparation of clear reports on title and certificates of title
• Scenario-based issues: adoption of roads/sewers, contamination, flooding, mines and minerals reservations, chancel liability, and occupiers’ rights

SQE1 Syllabus

For SQE1, you are required to understand the buyer’s solicitor’s role in making pre-contract searches and raising enquiries in conveyancing, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

• The role of the buyer’s solicitor in making pre-contract searches and raising enquiries under caveat emptor
• Main pre-contract searches: local land charges and local authority enquiries (LLC1/CON29/CON29O), water and drainage, environmental, flood, chancel liability, mining; plus SIM and K15 for unregistered land
• Location- and transaction-specific searches (Canal & River Trust/Environment Agency, commons and village green, highways and railways; company and bankruptcy checks where relevant)
• Raising, evaluating, and following up pre-contract enquiries (TA6 Property Information Form; CPSE for commercial)
• Professional conduct: conflicts, confidentiality, undertakings, acting for both buyer and lender, and duty of care
• Reporting search findings to client and lender; advising on risks, mitigations, and pre-exchange decision-making

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. Who is primarily responsible for carrying out pre-contract searches in a standard residential property transaction?
2. Name three types of pre-contract searches that are routinely conducted in every transaction.
3. What is the main purpose of raising pre-contract enquiries with the seller?
4. What professional conduct issue may arise if a solicitor acts for both the buyer and the lender?

Introduction

Pre-contract searches and enquiries are essential in conveyancing. They uncover legal, practical, and financial issues affecting a property’s value, use, and suitability, and they inform both the buyer’s and lender’s decisions before commitment. At this stage, either party can still withdraw without contractual penalty. The investigative burden rests squarely on the buyer side because of the caveat emptor principle.

Key Term: caveat emptor
The legal principle that the buyer is responsible for investigating the property and cannot later complain about defects that proper searches, enquiries, or inspection would have revealed.

The Role of the Buyer’s Solicitor

In almost all property transactions, the buyer’s solicitor leads on searches and enquiries. Under caveat emptor, the buyer must ensure they have sufficient information about the property before exchange of contracts. The buyer’s solicitor will typically:

• Obtain money on account for disbursements and submit searches early in the transaction once initial instructions, identity checks, and source-of-funds due diligence are complete
• Decide, based on the property’s type, location, and intended use, which searches and enquiries are necessary, and apply through the relevant authorities or via reputable search platforms
• Investigate title alongside searches and enquiries; for registered land by reviewing official copies and the title plan, and for unregistered land by reviewing the epitome of title and considering SIM and K15 searches
• Raise targeted pre-contract enquiries, evaluate replies, and follow up on gaps or inconsistencies (including risk of misrepresentation)
• Liaise with the buyer’s surveyor, recommend additional investigations (e.g. structural survey, environmental site investigation), and advise on risk mitigation (insurance, deed of variation, retentions, conditional exchange)
• Report clearly and promptly to the buyer (and to the lender if also instructed), including producing a certificate/report on title in a lender-approved format

When instructed by the lender as well, the solicitor must reconcile confidentiality duties to the buyer with the lender’s need to be informed of material matters affecting value or marketability, in accordance with lender instructions (e.g. UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook) and professional conduct rules.

Types of Pre-Contract Searches

The main searches conducted by the buyer’s solicitor include the following. Timing is important: apply early because local authority turnarounds can vary, and ensure results are recent enough to satisfy lender requirements.

• Local authority search: The composite local search has two parts.

Key Term: local authority search
A composite search comprising the local land charges search (LLC1) and local authority enquiries (CON29), with optional enquiries (CON29O) if needed.

Key Term: LLC1
The local land charges search. It reveals registrations such as financial charges, planning charges, tree preservation orders, conservation area designations, and listed building entries recorded against the land.

Key Term: CON29
Standard enquiries of the local authority. These reveal adopted road status, proposed road/rail schemes, building regulations entries, planning histories and enforcement, and other statutory matters affecting the property.

Key Term: CON29O
Optional enquiries of the local authority. These cover topics such as pollution notices, whether land abuts common land or town/village greens, and major pipeline routes; ordered where relevant to the property.

The LLC1 result discloses local land charges binding on the land irrespective of notice. CON29 answers identify issues such as road adoption status (including whether the road is highway maintainable at public expense), any proposed traffic or rail schemes (e.g. HS2), outstanding planning or enforcement notices, and restrictions like Article 4 Directions (which disapply permitted development rights). Optional questions are essential where open land is nearby, for new-builds on greenfield sites, or where a ransom strip risk is suspected.

Exam-focused distinction:

• The local land charges search (LLC1/CON29/CON29O) is a pre-contract search revealing public law burdens.
• The Land Charges Department search (K15) is different: it is an unregistered title search against names to discover certain private rights and entries, with a 15-working-day priority period.

Key Term: water and drainage search
A search with the water company (CON29DW for residential; CommercialDW for commercial) confirming mains water connection, foul/surface water drainage to public sewers, and proximity of public sewers.

Results flag whether the property drains to public sewers, is metered, or is affected by nearby apparatus. If not connected to public systems, maintenance responsibility and regulatory compliance (e.g. small sewage treatment plants) must be clarified and reported.

Key Term: environmental search
A desktop search to identify environmental risks (contamination, landfill, industrial uses) and flood risk indicators from datasets. It does not itself confirm contamination but screens for risk.

Environmental liability can fall on the current owner/occupier, even if they did not cause contamination. If a desktop search indicates risk (e.g. former industrial use), further steps include instructing an environmental site investigation (intrusive sampling) and/or considering appropriate indemnity insurance. Planning may require remediation before development.

Key Term: flood search
A property-specific assessment of flood risk (fluvial, coastal, surface water, groundwater, reservoir). It supports insurance-led decisions and complements environmental screening.

Do not rely solely on seller replies for flood history. Note Flood Re supports residential household insurance but does not cover most buy-to-let or commercial risks; lenders often require confirmation that insurable risk is available at normal terms.

Key Term: chancel repair liability search
A screening search assessing whether land lies within a parish where a historic obligation to contribute to chancel repair may subsist.

Chancel liability ceased to be an overriding interest in registered land on 13 October 2013. If there has been a registered transfer for value on or after that date, liability will not bind a buyer unless protected by notice before completion. In unregistered land, liability can still be protected by caution against first registration during the registration gap. Insurance is commonly used to manage residual risk.

Key Term: mining search
CON29M for coal mining; checks recorded workings, mine entries, subsidence claims, and future mining plans in coalfield areas.

Location-specific mining searches may be appropriate for tin (Cornwall/Devon/Somerset), clay (Cornwall/Devon/Dorset), limestone (parts of the West Midlands), and brine/salt (Cheshire). Titles excluding mines and minerals warrant both mining searches and, in some cases, a SIM search to identify any separate registered title for mineral rights.

Location- and transaction-specific searches commonly required:

• Canal and river adjacency: enquiries to the Canal & River Trust (canals) and Environment Agency/Natural Resources Wales (rivers) to identify maintenance liabilities, boundaries, and historic flooding

• Highways search: where verges/pavements may create gaps between title and carriageway, the local highways authority can confirm exact highway extent to assess ransom strip risk and access rights

• Railways: where near Network Rail infrastructure, specific enquiries regarding boundary obligations and restrictions on works; optional searches for major projects (e.g. HS2 or Crossrail)

• Commons/village green: optional enquiry (CON29O Q22) to check designation affecting use and development

• Title-related searches for unregistered land:

Key Term: index map search
A Land Registry SIM search identifying whether land (or part) is registered, any pending applications for first registration, and cautions against first registration.

Key Term: land charges search
A K15 search at the Land Charges Department (Plymouth) against the full names of estate owners for their periods of ownership to reveal entries such as restrictive covenants (D(ii)), equitable easements (D(iii)), and estate contracts (C(iv)). The official certificate gives a 15-working-day priority period for completion.

For K15 searches, ensure coverage for all names and variants and all relevant counties (including historic county names where boundaries have changed). If precise ownership dates are unclear, search back to 1926.

• Party status checks:

Key Term: bankruptcy-only search
A K16 search against an individual borrower’s name to reveal bankruptcy entries; often repeated pre-completion for lender protection.

Key Term: company search
A Companies House search to confirm existence, solvency, charges, directors/officers, and capacity to deal in land; made against company sellers and, when acting for a lender, company buyers.

• How to apply for searches and timing:

Key Term: NLIS
The National Land Information Service: a regulated hub through which licensed channels consolidate searches from authoritative data providers (Land Registry, local authorities, Coal Authority, etc.) for faster, integrated results.

5.1.1 Timing: submit pre-contract searches soon after initial client care and onboarding to avoid delays. 5.1.2 Purpose: to gather practical and legal information to inform advice and pre-exchange decisions. 5.1.3 Application routes: directly to authorities, via NLIS channels, or reputable commercial providers; maintain quality assurance and note provider liability terms.

Key Term: local land charges vs land charges
The local land charges register (LLC1) is distinct from the Land Charges Department (K15) register. LLC1/CON29 deal with public law burdens affecting the land; K15 protects certain private rights in unregistered land by registration against names.

Raising Pre-Contract Enquiries

Key Term: pre-contract enquiries
Questions raised by the buyer’s solicitor to the seller’s solicitor to obtain information about the property that may not be revealed by searches or inspection, and to clarify matters of title and use.

Standard enquiries in residential transactions are typically raised using the TA6 Property Information Form (PIF) and supported by the TA10 Fittings and Contents Form. Commercial transactions use the CPSE (Commercial Property Standard Enquiries), supplemented by forms tailored to leases or tenanted sales.

Core topics include:

• Boundaries (ownership, maintenance, and disputes)
• Alterations, extensions, and planning/building regulations (permissions, compliance, completion certificates, self-certification)
• Guarantees and warranties (e.g. damp-proofing, NHBC/new-home warranty)
• Occupiers, tenancies, licences, and consents (overriding interests risk)
• Services and utilities (private arrangements, access rights, easements)
• Environmental matters (contamination, notices, remediation)
• Insurance claims, damage, and flooding history
• Adoption of roads/sewers on new estates; s.38 highways agreement and bonding; sewer adoption arrangements

The seller must answer honestly and accurately. Misleading replies can give rise to claims for misrepresentation. Where replies reveal issues, the buyer’s solicitor should seek solutions: further evidence, corrective action at the seller’s expense, indemnity insurance, retentions, or conditionality in the contract before exchange.

Professional Conduct and Duties

The buyer’s solicitor must act in the client’s best interests, exercise reasonable care and skill, and comply with professional conduct rules, including:

• Conflicts of interest: avoid acting for both seller and buyer. Consider risks when acting for both buyer and lender; dual representation must comply with conflict rules and lender requirements
• Confidentiality: maintain client confidentiality; if acting for a lender and the buyer client refuses consent to disclose material information to the lender, cease acting for the lender
• Undertakings: manage undertakings with care; only give undertakings that can be honoured. Standard undertakings include discharging existing mortgages on completion (seller’s solicitor) and adopting recognised completion codes
• Duty of care: ensure all relevant searches and enquiries are made and properly evaluated; report clearly to clients and lenders on issues affecting value, marketability, or security

Key Term: conflict of interest
A situation where a solicitor’s duties to two or more clients may conflict, requiring careful management, safeguards, or withdrawal from acting.

Reporting and Advising

After receiving search and enquiry results, the buyer’s solicitor should:

• Review, interpret, and prioritise findings, highlighting material risks to use, value, enjoyment, marketability, and lender security
• Advise the buyer on options: further investigation, structural/environmental surveys, indemnity insurance, deed of variation, obtaining consents, retentions, or contract conditionality (e.g. planning/building regs compliance)
• Report to the lender (if acting) in a lender-approved certificate/report on title, disclosing matters that affect value or marketability and confirming title quality and completion arrangements

Key Term: certificate of title
A structured report to a lender confirming good and marketable title, disclosing adverse matters, and certifying compliance with lender instructions, typically issued immediately prior to drawdown.

Worked Example 1.1

A buyer’s solicitor receives a local authority search revealing that the property is not connected to a public sewer and relies on a private septic tank. What should the solicitor do?

Answer:
The solicitor should raise a pre-contract enquiry with the seller to clarify the maintenance arrangements and regulatory compliance for the septic tank, check consent and access rights for any shared facilities, consider an environmental survey if location suggests sensitivity, and advise the client on responsibilities, ongoing costs, and potential need for indemnity insurance.

Worked Example 1.2

A mining search reveals past coal mining activity beneath a property. What is the solicitor’s next step?

Answer:
Advise the client of subsidence risk, consider a structural survey (and review any prior subsidence claims), check whether mines and minerals are excluded in the title and whether separate mineral rights are registered (via SIM), and discuss mitigation (insurance or withdrawal) depending on survey outcomes and lender stance.

Worked Example 1.3

The chancel repair screening indicates potential liability. The registered title shows a transfer for value in 2018. What is the practical approach?

Answer:
As there has been a transfer for value after 13 October 2013, chancel liability will not bind the buyer unless a notice is entered before completion. Nevertheless, because HM Land Registry does not assess the validity of notice applications, consider cost-effective indemnity insurance and report the position to the client (and lender if acting).

Worked Example 1.4

CON29 reveals the road fronting a new-build plot is not yet adopted. What should the buyer’s solicitor require?

Answer:
Confirm that the developer covenants to bring roads and sewers up to adoptable standard at no cost to the buyer, require s.38 highways and sewer adoption agreements supported by bonds, and warn that without such agreements a lender may impose retentions or decline to lend. Include appropriate contract conditions.

Worked Example 1.5

Inspection identifies a person in occupation who is not the seller, and there is no formal tenancy disclosed. How should this be addressed?

Answer:
Raise targeted enquiries about the occupier’s status and rights, assess overriding interest risk (actual occupation), and require vacant possession on completion or documentation evidencing the occupier’s lack of proprietary rights. Advise the buyer on the risk of an overriding interest if not properly resolved.

Worked Example 1.6

The property abuts open land used as a village green. What optional search is indicated, and why?

Answer:
Order CON29O enquiry 22 (commons/village greens). Village green/common land designation restricts development and may permit public access rights; results must be reported to the client and lender due to impacts on use, amenity, and value.

Exam Warning

If a solicitor fails to carry out appropriate searches or raise necessary enquiries, and the client suffers loss as a result, the solicitor may be liable for negligence. Distinguish clearly between local land charges searches (LLC1/CON29/CON29O) and Land Charges Department searches (K15) for unregistered land, and ensure location-specific risks (e.g. adoption of roads/sewers, flood, commons) are addressed where indicated by the facts.

Revision Tip

Create a search matrix for common scenarios (urban vs rural; near watercourses; former industrial; mining areas; unregistered title) to quickly select appropriate searches. Memorise the LLC1/CON29/CON29O suite and the distinction between local land charges and Land Charges Department (K15) searches.

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

• The buyer’s solicitor leads on searches and enquiries under caveat emptor and submits them early in the pre-contract stage
• The composite local search includes LLC1 (local land charges) and CON29, with CON29O for optional, location-specific matters; do not confuse this with K15 Land Charges searches
• Core searches in most transactions: local search, water and drainage, environmental, flood, chancel liability, and mining; add Canal & River Trust/Environment Agency, commons/village green, highways, and railways where relevant
• For unregistered land, use SIM to check registration status and K15 Land Charges searches against all relevant names and counties; run bankruptcy-only (K16) for individual borrowers and company searches for corporate parties
• Raise and evaluate standard and targeted pre-contract enquiries (TA6/TA10; CPSE) and follow up on risks with evidence or solutions
• Report to the buyer (and lender if acting) with clear advice and options (insurance, surveys, consents, deed variations, retentions, or conditional exchange)
• Manage professional conduct obligations: conflicts, confidentiality (particularly with lender), and undertakings; uphold duty of care in selecting and interpreting searches and enquiries
• Recognise risks: adoption of roads/sewers, contamination, flood risk, mines/minerals reservations, chancel liability, and occupiers’ rights (actual occupation)

Key Terms and Concepts

• caveat emptor
• local authority search
• LLC1
• CON29
• CON29O
• water and drainage search
• environmental search
• flood search
• chancel repair liability search
• mining search
• index map search
• land charges search
• bankruptcy-only search
• company search
• pre-contract enquiries
• conflict of interest
• NLIS
• certificate of title
• local land charges vs land charges

Key Term: flood search
A property-specific search evaluating fluvial, coastal, surface water, groundwater, and reservoir risks, used to support insurability assessments and lender decisions.

Key Term: index map search
A search of the Land Registry’s index map (SIM) confirming registration status, pending applications, and cautions against first registration.

Key Term: bankruptcy-only search
A Land Charges K16 search against an individual to reveal bankruptcy entries, often required by lenders and repeated pre-completion.

Key Term: company search
A Companies House search to confirm a company’s existence, solvency, charges, capacity, and officers, relevant to both sellers and borrowers.

Key Term: NLIS
The National Land Information Service, a regulated hub accessed via licensed channels to order and receive consolidated property searches from authoritative sources.

Key Term: certificate of title
A lender-approved report confirming title quality, disclosing adverse matters, and certifying compliance with lender instructions prior to drawdown.

Key Term: local land charges vs land charges
The former (LLC1/CON29) is a local authority-based register of public law burdens; the latter (K15) is the Land Charges Department register protecting certain private rights in unregistered land by name-based entries.