Conveyancing Searches: What They Are and How Long They Take

When you buy a home, your solicitor carries out a set of enquiries with public bodies and other organisations to find out things about the property and the area that you would not discover from a viewing. These are known as conveyancing searches, or property searches.

Searches can reveal planning decisions, roads and public rights of way, drainage arrangements, environmental risks and other matters that could affect your enjoyment of the home or its value. If you are buying with a mortgage, your lender will normally insist on them. Even if you are a cash buyer, we strongly recommend them, because once you have bought, any problems they would have revealed become yours.

At Symes Bains Broomer we order searches for buyers in Scunthorpe, Goole and across North Lincolnshire and the East Riding every week, as well as for clients buying elsewhere in England and Wales.

Most purchases include three core searches:

• Local authority search: made with the local council. It covers the local land charges register (for example, planning conditions, tree preservation orders, conservation areas and listed building status) and wider enquiries such as planning and building control history, whether the road is adopted and maintained by the council, and nearby road or rail schemes.
• Water and drainage search: made with the water company. It confirms whether the property is connected to the public water supply and sewers, and whether there are public sewers within the boundary, which can affect extensions.
• Environmental search: a report on matters such as historic land use and contamination, flood risk and ground stability.

Depending on the property and its location, we may also recommend other searches, such as a more detailed flood report, a chancel repair search or checks relevant to particular local ground conditions. We explain why we are recommending each one, so you only pay for what is useful.

Searches are different from a survey. A survey looks at the physical condition of the building, while searches look at records held about the property and the land around it. Most buyers benefit from both, and your lender’s valuation is not a substitute for either.

The honest answer is that it depends mainly on the local council. Water, drainage and environmental searches usually come back within a few days. The local authority search is the one that varies most: some councils return results within days, while others can take several weeks at busy times.

Turnaround times also change through the year, and are often longer in spring and early summer when the housing market is busiest. The good news is that waiting for searches does not mean nothing is happening. While the results are on their way, we are checking the draft contract and title, raising enquiries with the seller’s solicitor and reviewing your mortgage offer, so the purchase keeps moving.

That is why we order your searches as soon as you instruct us and the seller’s details are confirmed, rather than waiting for the draft contract. Searches are one part of the overall timeline: a straightforward purchase usually takes around 8 to 12 weeks from offer to completion, as we explain in how long does conveyancing really take.

For homes in Scunthorpe, Brigg, Barton-upon-Humber, Epworth and the rest of North Lincolnshire, the local authority search is made with North Lincolnshire Council. For homes in Goole, Howden, Snaith and the rest of the East Riding, it is made with East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Each council has its own process and its own turnaround time, which can change from month to month.

Because we work with both councils all the time, we can tell you the current position when you instruct us, so you can plan your move with realistic expectations. Local knowledge helps in other ways too. Parts of our area are low-lying land close to the Humber, Trent and Ouse, so we look carefully at flood information, and we are used to the drainage and road questions that come up on both older terraces and new estates.

You can meet our local teams on our Scunthorpe conveyancing and Goole conveyancing pages.

Search fees are paid to third parties, such as the council and the water company, so they are listed separately from our legal fee. Our standard search pack for a purchase, covering the local authority, water and drainage and environmental searches, is £182.86. Any extra search we recommend is explained and agreed with you before it is ordered.

Our legal fees are fixed and published. You can see the full breakdown on our freehold purchase pricing page or get an instant quote on our conveyancing fees calculator.

We read every result carefully and raise questions with the seller’s solicitor about anything that needs explaining. For example, if the search shows an extension that should have had planning permission or building regulations approval, we ask for the paperwork. If something cannot be resolved, we explain your options, which may include an indemnity insurance policy, a price renegotiation or, occasionally, deciding not to proceed.

Searches can also prompt useful questions for you to consider. A proposed road scheme, a nearby planning application or a note about flood risk does not necessarily mean you should not buy, but it helps you decide with your eyes open and may affect your insurance or future plans for the property. We will talk any such points through with you rather than just sending you a report to read.

We then summarise the important points in our report to you before you exchange contracts, in plain English, so you know exactly what you are buying. Our guide to the conveyancing process shows where this fits in.

You cannot make the council work faster, but you can make sure your searches are ordered at the earliest possible moment. Instruct a solicitor as soon as your offer is accepted, return your ID and paperwork promptly and pay the search fees when asked. Some sellers also order searches before they find a buyer, which can save time later. If you are in a chain, it also helps to ask your estate agent how the other purchases are progressing, because the whole chain can only move at the pace of its slowest part. Our article on why you can’t move house in two weeks explains the other steps that need time.

If you are buying with a mortgage, your lender will almost always require searches, although some lenders accept search indemnity insurance in certain cases. Cash buyers can choose not to have searches, but we do not recommend it. Searches cost a modest amount compared with the price of a home, and they are the main way to find out about issues you could not see on a viewing. Insurance only covers specific financial losses and will not tell you about something that may affect how you use or enjoy the property.

There is no fixed legal expiry date, but searches only show the position on the day they were made. Planning applications, road schemes and other entries can change after that date, so a search that is many months old may no longer give the full picture. Lenders generally expect them to be recent, and if a purchase has been delayed for several months, we may advise updating them before exchange. We will tell you if that applies to your purchase.

Our conveyancing team, headed by Partner Jenny Musgrave, orders searches on day one, explains every result in plain English and keeps you updated at every stage. We know North Lincolnshire and the East Riding well and act for buyers across England and Wales on a fixed fee. Visit our buying or selling your home page, or call us for a free, no obligation chat about your purchase.