Searches, title and the legal stage

Title is a set of answers, not a document

The legal stage begins with establishing who owns the land, on what terms, and what the ownership is subject to. In systems with a central register, the register supplies most of this: a description of the extent, the class of title, the name of the proprietor, any mortgage or other financial charge, and a list of the rights and burdens registered against it. Where land is unregistered, the same questions are answered by tracing a chain of deeds, which is slower and more prone to gaps.

Two properties can be physically identical and legally quite different. One may have the benefit of a right of way, an obligation to contribute to a shared drive, a restriction on what may be built, and a shared responsibility for a boundary wall. Its neighbour may have none of these. The purpose of this stage is to produce a complete list, and to say what each item means in practice.

What a search actually is

A search is a question put to a body that holds records, and the answer is limited to those records. This is the most misunderstood part of the process. A local authority search does not involve anybody visiting the property. It reports what the authority has recorded: planning applications and decisions, enforcement action, building control completions, whether the road outside is publicly maintained, whether the property is subject to registered charges, and what is formally proposed nearby.

It follows that searches are excellent at finding recorded facts and blind to unrecorded ones. Work carried out without permission may leave no trace. A neighbour's intention to build is not a proposal until it is applied for. The search tells you what the record knows, which is a great deal, and nothing beyond it - which is why searches, survey and your own observation are three different instruments and none substitutes for the others.

Easements: rights over land you do not own

An easement is a right attached to one parcel of land exercisable over another: a right of way across a neighbour's drive, a right for a drain or cable to cross, a right of light, a right to use a shared path to reach a rear garden. They pass with the land rather than with the people, which is why they can be centuries old and still fully effective.

Both directions matter. A property may have the benefit of an easement, which may be essential to its use - the only vehicular access, for instance. It may equally be burdened by one, meaning a neighbour is entitled to cross it or run services beneath it. Where a right is essential and the paperwork is unclear, that is a question to resolve before commitment, not afterwards.

Covenants: promises attached to the ground

A restrictive covenant is a promise limiting what may be done with land, made when the land was sold and binding on subsequent owners. Common examples restrict building beyond a stated line, prohibit trade or business use, forbid particular alterations, or require consent from an original seller before changes are made. Many are extremely old, some relate to bodies that no longer exist, and enforceability varies considerably.

The practical questions are whether a covenant would prevent something you intend to do, whether it appears to have been breached already, and who if anybody retains the ability to enforce it. Where a breach exists or is intended, insurance-based solutions are common, but they cover the financial consequence rather than granting permission.

Boundaries are vaguer than people expect

Registered plans usually show general boundaries only. They indicate roughly where a boundary lies; they do not determine its exact line, and they rarely say who owns a particular fence or wall. Responsibility for maintaining a boundary is a separate question again, sometimes answered in the deeds and often not answered anywhere. Most boundary disputes arise between people who each believe their position is documented, and neither is.

The sensible approach is to establish what is documented, note what is not, and check that the physical features on the ground correspond to the plan. Where a fence has clearly moved, or where a structure sits on or over a line, it is far better to raise it as an enquiry than to inherit it.

Tenure, and the arithmetic of a lease

The most consequential distinction in tenure is between owning land outright and owning a time-limited interest in a building on someone else's land. A leasehold interest is a wasting asset: it has a term, the term runs down, and the value falls as it does. Above a long remaining term the effect is small; as the term shortens the value falls faster, and below certain thresholds lenders become unwilling and the cost of extending rises sharply.

Three numbers describe a lease and should be established at the outset: the unexpired term, the ground rent and how it escalates, and the service charge with its recent history and any planned major works. An escalating ground rent can materially affect both value and lendability. A service charge history that shows large irregular items usually indicates a building with deferred maintenance, and the next such item may be scheduled for shortly after you arrive.

Enquiries, and why they take so long

Alongside searches, the buyer's representative asks the seller a set of questions: about disputes, alterations and their permissions, guarantees, shared services, occupiers, and what is included in the sale. Answering these accurately requires the seller to find documents, and finding documents is the single largest source of delay in most transactions. A seller who assembles this material before marketing typically removes several weeks from the process.

When the replies arrive, read them properly. They are the only place where the seller states, on the record, what they know about the property. Almost every unpleasant surprise that emerges after completion was disclosed somewhere in this bundle.