Local Authority Searches

By attending any one of the 400+ local authorities (both borough and council) in England and Wales we can provide:

• Complete Con 29 part 1 enquiries, and where available part 2 enquiries, including search of borough development plan, detailing zoning and the council policy on adjoining properties (plan provided where appropriate).

• Register of local land charges.

• Records of planning, highways, drainage, health and engineers departments, where available.

• Planning entries of adjoining properties, where available

Land Registry Searches

Provide:

• Title Number

• Property description

• Proprietorship register - entries from 1 April 2000 include value of all transactions

• Mortgages

• Plans

• Restrictive covenants

• Office copy entries

• Index map searches

 

Chancel Repair

 

Chancel repair liability is an ancient interest benefiting some 5,200 pre-Reformation churches in England and Wales. It allows the Parochial Church Council to require owners of former rectorial land to meet the cost of repairing the church chancel.

 

Because the chancel of a church was the area where the rector, or parish priest, officiated, the duty of repairing the chancel of an ancient parish church fell on the owner of property attached to the rectory. Such rectorial land was and is not necessarily situated in close proximity to a church building.

 

Determining Chancel Repair Liability

 

There is no single central register which can be used to identify all chancel repair or other liabilities or restrictions attached to land and property in England and Wales. Enquirers are strongly recommended to check the deeds, the Land Registry and current landowners for relevant information.

 

Making a Chancel Repair search

 

London Law determine the Diocese and the parish to which a property belongs. Armed with this information and the address of the property a Chancel Repair search is made by checking the Public Records Office to ascertain if there are any entries against that property in that Parish, which may link the address to Church of England (or Church of Wales) land.

 

Environmental Searches

As a authorised reseller of Homecheck Pro, London Law can offer Environmental Searches on residential and commercial property.

Environmental Search Report for Residential Properties

This report is for use by lawyers and other professionals involved in residential property.

It provides information in the five key areas that are not covered by Standard Enquiries of Local Authorities.

In partnership with RPS, Europe's largest environmental consultancy, every Residential Report now includes an Environmental Certificate. The Certificate indicates the likelihood of the property being described as contaminated, as defined by Section 78(A)2 of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

This Certificate is now enhanced with a unique Lending Assessment, which provides guidance from an environmental perspective as to whether the property can be used as security in normal lending. The Certificate also highlights matters which, whilst not relating to contamination, may impact on the value or use of the property. Such matters include Flooding, Radon, Subsidence or active landfill sites within the vicinity of the property.

In this way, Homecheck Professional addresses the issue raised by the Law Society Warning Card on Contaminated Land as well as removing from the property professional the burden of interpreting the results of the report.

Reports on Residential Properties are available at £29.00 (plus VAT) each and include the following five key sections:-

• Enquiries of Statutory Registers This section of the report sets out information from statutory registers held by the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and the Health and Safety Executive. It identifies any nearby industrial processes or installations which might have an environmental impact on the property.

• Enquiries Concerning Land Use This section of the report seeks to identify both past and present industrial land use. Its purpose is to identify any land which may have been put to a potentially contaminative use. Databases interrogated include the Valuation Office's Non-Domestic Rating list to check whether it indicates the presence of a potentially contaminative industrial land use. Past industrial land use is checked by an analysis of historical Ordnance Survey maps.

• Enquiries Concerning Natural Perils This section concerns flooding and radon.

• Enquiries Concerning Land Instability This section concerns coal mining, natural subsidence and mineral extraction, which are the principal causes of insurance claims. It is designed to highlight land instability issues which may affect the value or enjoyment of the property. Enquiries ascertain whether the property is in a mining area (including underground or surface mining whether past, present or proposed).

• Enquiries Concerning Other Matters This section details other matters which may impact on the property and its settings and includes Air Quality readings from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). It also includes a check on whether there are any transmitters and cell phone masts registered with the OFCOM near the property.