In a weekly column, solicitor Juliet PhillipsJames casts her expert eye over a range of legal matters and urges anyone with any questions or problems to come forward for help.

AQ

Property searches – what are they? When are they needed? Searches will be completed by your solicitor when you are purchasing a property. The purpose of searches is to find out vital information about the property and local area to ensure that you are fully informed of potential issues that could arise during your ownership.

Searches are mandatory if you are using a mortgage to help you fund your purchase – however, we recommend all purchasers obtain searches, even if they are not mandatory.

The three main searches we undertake are: Local authority search; Environmental search;

Water and drainage search.

If the property is situated in Llanelli, we may undertake a coal-mining search to discover whether the property is within close proximity to a coalmining entry.

At the time of writing, searches within the Llanelli and Swansea area are taking approximately three to four weeks to be produced.

Once received, your solicitor will read through the reports thoroughly and provide you with a summary of each, including any points which could affect your decision to purchase the property.

It is important to note that if the searches reveal anything that you are not fully satisfied with, you are not legally obliged to move forward with the transaction at this stage.

We have recently launched a new portal for our conveyancing department so you can see real-time updates of when your searches have been applied for, when they have been received by us, and when your report has been sent to you.

If you have any further questions or want to get in touch, please contact us on 01554 755101 or email conveyancing@gomerwilliams.co.uk