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Disbursements continued (2)

Environmental search

An environmental search is carried out by solicitors with an agency that provides such searches. The law does not currently require local authorities to keep a register of contaminated land. An environmental search will check whether the land upon which the property is built has been contaminated. New properties are often built upon old landfill sites or upon sites that were previously used for commercial purposes. It is now a legal requirement that developers survey land intended for building to ensure it has not been contaminated. If it has been contaminated the developer must decontaminate the land before building upon it. However, this was not always the case and some property is built on land that is contaminated. A solicitors environmental search will also check whether the property is affected by flooding or other environmental risks or hazard (such as factories or commercial outlets nearby). You can currently obtain a free mini environmental search (which cannot be used for legal purposes) from www.homecheck.co.uk.

Mining searches

There are various types of mining carried out in the UK today. These include coal, chalk and tin. Solicitors will check the relevant directory if the property you wish to buy is in a mining area and if so will carry out a search to ensure that the property has not been/will not be adversely affected by the mining activities.

Chancel repair search/check

In the past when the Church sold off or gifted land they sometimes required the new owner to pay towards the upkeep of the church or its lands. Some property is still subject to this liability. There was a recent case where one unsuspecting couple were forced to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to the church because their property was subject to this liability. If you solicitor believes that the property you wish to buy may be subject to this liability they will carry out a chancel repair search/check.

Commons registration search

Some land was formerly ‘common’ land. This means that the public have rights to pass over it and occasionally to graze sheep and cattle, gather wood etc. If your solicitor suspects that the property you wish to buy may have been registered as ‘common land’ they will carry out a commons registration search. This search is typical upon properties that front a village green or common land.

Land Registry search

When you buy, transfer or mortgage a property solicitors will search the Land Registry to check that no one has registered a claim or a right in the property since the Official copies were issued by the Land Registry. This ensures that you do not buy a property that has a financial charge or other right registered against it.

Land Charges search (also known as a bankruptcy search)

Telegraphic transfer fees - If you are buying a property your solicitor will have to send the purchase money to your seller’s solicitor by telegraphic transfer. If you are selling or re-mortgaging your solicitor may have to repay your existing mortgages or loans by telegraphic transfer. The bank makes a charge for this and the solicitor passes that charge onto you.

Items that may be listed as disbursements which are not genuine disbursements

(hidden extra solicitors fees to watch out for)

Legal fees for acting for a mortgage lender. Unless your lender has appointed their own solicitor (i.e. a different solicitor to the one you are using) the fee charged for acting for a mortgage lender will be paid to your solicitor and should therefore be shown as part of their total conveyancing fee. This fee may be charged separately by your solicitor on a purchase or a remortgage and even for dealing with repayment of a mortgage on your sale. (CMS do not charge this fee)
Solicitors indemnity insurance. By law all solicitors must carry indemnity insurance of at least £1 million pounds to protect their clients against that solicitor’s negligence or fraud. Some firms try to pass the cost of this insurance on to their clients. (CMS do not charge this fee)
Petty disbursements. This is a notional charge for telephone calls, photocopying, faxes and postage. In fact it forms part of the solicitor’s fee for the conveyancing and should be included in the total conveyancing fee quoted by the solicitor. (CMS do not charge this fee)
File storage. Solicitors are obliged to store your file for six years and some store for at least twelve (as recommended by the Law Society). Some solicitors seek to charge you for the storage of your file. (CMS do not charge this fee)
Search packages. Some firms charge inflated prices for a search package. We have seen the price of search packages quoted at up to £100 more than the actual cost of the package. The solicitor collects the fee for the package, pays for the searches and keeps the difference as conveyancing fees. (CMS solicitors charge only the actual cost price of searches)