If you are not a property owner you may well be wondering what a search is - as part of the conveyancing process for property and land, a search is made of the local and or highway authority records.
It is important to have a search carried out when buying a property as it is designed to protect prospective purchasers.
A search consists of 95 questions covering areas such as development plans, enforcement notices, planning decisions, drainage, noise abatement, mineral consultation areas, and of course, the all important highway enquiries. Of these there are 16 standard and 4 optional questions, covering enquires on road maintenance responsibilities, adoption agreements, proposed land acquisitions, rights of way and traffic management schemes.
All Council's are closely monitored for performance indicators, allowing only 10 days in total for a standard residential search to be processed. This period includes any necessary internal consultations, which means that our own maximum turn-around time for the highway aspects of the search is only 5 days. In fact 90% of searches are completed and returned by us to the District and Borough Council's the same day. The other 10% are returned within our allotted five days.
To arrange for a property search please contact your local district or borough council.