The Practical Lawyer

If you are acting on behalf of someone buying in Cheshire then it will usually be negligent not to obtain a salt search.

To what extent can you rely on searches done by a third party (eg the seller, or another prospective buyer)?

Suppose contracts are exchanged on the basis that completion will be on a fixed date ‘or earlier by agreement’. Can one side insist on the other side accepting an early completion?

A recent High Court case illustrates the dangers of buying off-plan. These are dangers that all buyers should be clearly warned about.

A reminder of what a K16 bankruptcy search does. It checks whether, in the last five years, the name searched against has been subject to (1) a petition in bankruptcy (in the register of pending actions); (2) a receiving order in bankruptcy (a bankruptcy order in the register of writs and orders); or (3) a deed of arrangement (in the register of deeds of arrangement).

Should a non-reliance clause in the lease (which says that T has not relied on any previous statement or representation by L) prevail over an incorrect reply to a pre-contract enquiry?

Dreamvar is a nightmare for conveyancing solicitors and their insurers.

This is an example of a ‘failure to complete’. It decides nothing new but merely illustrates what can happen.

If a seller replies to a pre-contract enquiry, that reply may constitute a ‘representation’.

One of the unintended consequences of escalating ground rents is that if a ground rent under a long lease becomes more than £1,000 pa (London), or more than £250 pa (outside London), it will be an assured tenancy under HA 1988.