RE4/5
Pre-contract Investigations: Searches and Enquiries
Searches
Why do we do → Buyer’s solicitors make searches due to doctrine of CAVEAT EMPTOR – buyer beware
searches? → Seller’s duty to disclose is limited, so searches are necessary to protect buyer
→ If solicitor doesn’t make the searches they should do, solicitor be liable for professional negligence
→ Results of searches can afford protection: if suffer loss as a result of an error in official certificate of
search, compensation may be payable under s10 of LLCA 1975
When should All searches should not be more than a maximum of six months old at completion (Lenders Handbook
we do para 5.2.3) to satisfy (assuming is being taken out by buyer) – however, two months is the usual limit in
searches? practice.
When searching, think about what is not in the results that you might have expected to find.
General While conducting necessary searches, the solicitor should consider whether planning permission will
considerations need to be obtained and whether the seller or predecessors obtained the necessary planning
permissions and building regulation approvals. This will affect buyer’s future use and potential liability.
Role of buyer’s solicitor
→ Buyer’s solicitor must:
obtain all relevant information
thoroughly analyse it
provide clear, concise and coherent advice
Failure to pursue an unsatisfactory reply from the seller which results in loss being suffered by
the client, may result in the buyer’s solicitor being liable to his own client in negligence:
Computastaff Ltd v Ingledew Brown Bennison & Garret (1983).
The contract should not be finally approved by the buyer’s solicitor or exchanged until
satisfactory results of all searches have been received.
Passing on search results
• Once you get your search results, if any are unsatisfactory, pursue them
• If not done, you are potentially liable to client in negligence (Computastaff v Ingledew Brown
Bennison & Garrett)
• Always communicate the results to your client
• A buyer has imputed knowledge of everything his solicitor knows
• A lender can rely on searches made by a buyer’s solicitor
• Where the seller has made his own searches, the buyer may choose to rely on a seller’s searches
or repeat them himself
1
Pre-contract Investigations: Searches and Enquiries
Searches
Why do we do → Buyer’s solicitors make searches due to doctrine of CAVEAT EMPTOR – buyer beware
searches? → Seller’s duty to disclose is limited, so searches are necessary to protect buyer
→ If solicitor doesn’t make the searches they should do, solicitor be liable for professional negligence
→ Results of searches can afford protection: if suffer loss as a result of an error in official certificate of
search, compensation may be payable under s10 of LLCA 1975
When should All searches should not be more than a maximum of six months old at completion (Lenders Handbook
we do para 5.2.3) to satisfy (assuming is being taken out by buyer) – however, two months is the usual limit in
searches? practice.
When searching, think about what is not in the results that you might have expected to find.
General While conducting necessary searches, the solicitor should consider whether planning permission will
considerations need to be obtained and whether the seller or predecessors obtained the necessary planning
permissions and building regulation approvals. This will affect buyer’s future use and potential liability.
Role of buyer’s solicitor
→ Buyer’s solicitor must:
obtain all relevant information
thoroughly analyse it
provide clear, concise and coherent advice
Failure to pursue an unsatisfactory reply from the seller which results in loss being suffered by
the client, may result in the buyer’s solicitor being liable to his own client in negligence:
Computastaff Ltd v Ingledew Brown Bennison & Garret (1983).
The contract should not be finally approved by the buyer’s solicitor or exchanged until
satisfactory results of all searches have been received.
Passing on search results
• Once you get your search results, if any are unsatisfactory, pursue them
• If not done, you are potentially liable to client in negligence (Computastaff v Ingledew Brown
Bennison & Garrett)
• Always communicate the results to your client
• A buyer has imputed knowledge of everything his solicitor knows
• A lender can rely on searches made by a buyer’s solicitor
• Where the seller has made his own searches, the buyer may choose to rely on a seller’s searches
or repeat them himself
1
