What searches does a conveyancer do: UK buyer's guide

Your conveyancer will order three core searches on every purchase: a Local Authority search (split into LLC1 and CON29), an environmental search, and a water and drainage search (CON29DW). Mortgage lenders typically insist on all three, and cash buyers are strongly advised to commission them too. Beyond those three, your conveyancer may order specialist checks covering coal mining, chancel repair liability, flood risk, radon, or contaminated land, depending on the property's location and type.

• Local Authority search (LLC1 + CON29): reveals planning restrictions, enforcement notices, proposed road schemes and tree preservation orders
• Environmental search: assesses contaminated land, radon, flood risk and subsidence indicators
• Water and drainage search (CON29DW): confirms sewer connections, public drain adoption and development constraints
• Specialist searches: coal/mining, chancel repair, flood-risk reports, drainage CCTV, common land checks (ordered where specific risk factors apply)

Searches typically take a few weeks to return, and standard search packs are generally valid for several months. If exchange is delayed beyond that window, your conveyancer will usually advise refreshing the pack.

Key takeaways

Conveyancing searches are the formal record checks that protect your title, satisfy your lender, and reveal risks no physical inspection can expose.

Table of Contents

Why does a conveyancer run searches, and what are they checking for?

Searches are formal enquiries sent to official bodies and registers. They expose issues that a physical inspection of the property simply cannot reveal: planning restrictions, ground contamination, drainage obligations, flood exposure. None of these show up on a viewing.

Searches are record checks, not site visits. A local authority does not attend the property during a Local Authority search. The results are limited to recorded data and replies to standard enquiry forms — which is precisely why they must be read alongside a survey, not instead of one.

Your conveyancer orders searches on your behalf and, where you are buying with a mortgage, on behalf of your lender too. Lenders have a direct financial interest in the property as security for the loan, so they require the three core searches before they will release funds. Cash buyers face no legal obligation to commission searches, but skipping them means accepting unknown risks on title, insurance and future resale value.

The Law Society's guidance for buyers makes clear that searches form a critical part of pre-contract due diligence. They are not bureaucratic box-ticking. A contaminated land result, for instance, can affect your mortgage offer, your buildings insurance premium, and the property's long-term value in ways that only emerge after you own it.

What are the three core searches solicitors do when buying a house?

Every standard conveyancing transaction in England and Wales includes these three checks.

Local Authority search: LLC1 and CON29

The Local Authority search has two distinct parts, and understanding the difference matters.

LLC1 is a search of the local land charges register. It reveals binding charges and restrictions registered against the land itself: financial charges, listed building status, conservation area designation, tree preservation orders (TPOs), and smoke control orders. These are legal obligations that run with the land and bind any future owner.

CON29 is a set of enquiries directed at the local authority. It covers proposed road schemes, planning decisions, enforcement notices, compulsory purchase orders, and whether the road serving the property is adopted (maintained at public expense). Tree preservation orders and conservation area rules are among the most commonly flagged items in CON29 results for older residential areas.

A buyer purchasing near a proposed bypass, for example, would find that scheme disclosed in CON29 long before it appears in local news.

Environmental search

The environmental search draws on national datasets to assess four main risk categories: contaminated land, radon gas, flood risk, and ground stability or subsidence indicators. Government flood-risk data is one of the primary sources used to determine whether a property sits within a flood risk zone, which directly affects the availability and cost of buildings insurance.

Contaminated land guidance on GOV.UK supplies the definitions and indicators that environmental search providers use when grading ground contamination risk. A property built on a former industrial site, petrol station, or landfill may return an elevated risk rating, triggering a recommendation for a specialist Phase 1 or Phase 2 ground investigation.

Water and drainage search (CON29DW)

The CON29DW is submitted to the relevant water authority and confirms:

• Whether the property is connected to the public sewer
• Whether any public sewer runs within the property's boundaries (which restricts building)
• The adoption status of drains serving the property
• Whether the property is at risk of sewer flooding

A private drain or unadopted sewer within the curtilage can create significant maintenance liability. If a public sewer crosses the garden, permitted development rights for extensions may be curtailed. These are issues that affect both mortgage security and future use, which is why the Law Society identifies the CON29DW as a standard requirement alongside the Local Authority and environmental searches.

Which specialist searches might your conveyancer order?

The three core searches cover most properties. Specialist checks are ordered when the location, property type, or title documents suggest a specific risk that the standard pack does not address.

• Coal mining search: ordered for properties in historic coalfield areas. The Coal Authority holds official records of mine entries, shafts, and subsidence risk zones. A positive result can affect mortgage offers and insurance.
• Chancel repair liability: applies where a property sits within a historic parish that retains the right to demand contributions to church repairs. The liability can be substantial and is not always obvious from the title.
• Contaminated land (specialist): where the environmental search returns an elevated risk, a Phase 1 desk study or Phase 2 site investigation may be recommended before exchange.
• Flood-risk report: a detailed assessment beyond the standard environmental search, often requested by lenders for properties in Flood Zone 2 or 3.
• Radon: a more detailed radon assessment for properties in high-radon areas, particularly in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Derbyshire, and Northamptonshire.
• Drainage CCTV survey: ordered where the CON29DW raises concerns about private drains or where the seller cannot confirm drainage routes.
• Common land or village green search: relevant for properties adjacent to or claiming access over registered common land.
• Highways search: occasionally ordered separately from CON29 where road adoption status is unclear or disputed.

Some of these are prompted by the buyer's own concerns or by issues in the title documents. Others are specifically required by the lender. Your conveyancer should tell you which searches are lender-mandated and which are being ordered for your own protection, since that distinction affects both cost and urgency.

Pro Tip: Ask your conveyancer at the point of instruction to confirm which searches are required by your lender and which are discretionary. This avoids surprises on the disbursements bill and helps you understand the risk profile of the property from the outset.

How does a conveyancer order searches and act on the results?

The process follows a clear sequence once you have instructed your conveyancer.

1. Instruction: you instruct your conveyancer and pay a search deposit (or it is included in a fixed-fee quote). 2. Ordering: your conveyancer submits the search applications, usually as a bundled search pack through an approved search provider or directly to the local authority and water company. 3. Results arrive: turnaround varies by local authority and search type. The Local Authority search is typically the slowest element. 4. Review: your conveyancer reads the results against the title documents and the property's specific circumstances. 5. Targeted enquiries: where a result raises a concern, your conveyancer raises specific enquiries with the seller's solicitor. The Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol guides solicitors to make targeted, relevant enquiries rather than broad, indiscriminate questions that add delay without adding value. 6. Report to you: your conveyancer summarises the search results in a report on title, explaining any issues and recommending next steps before you commit to exchange.

Search results have a shelf life. Standard packs are generally treated as reliable for six months. If exchange is delayed and results are approaching or past that threshold, your conveyancer will advise on whether a refresh is needed. HM Land Registry and local authority records form the backbone of these checks, and conveyancers rely on official registers rather than informal sources to protect both your title and your lender's security.

How much do conveyancing searches cost, and how long do they take?

Search costs are disbursements, meaning they are passed through to you at cost rather than marked up as profit. The total depends on the local authority, the property's location, and whether specialist searches are needed. For a full breakdown of how search costs sit within your overall legal fees, the solicitors' fees guide for buying and selling sets out typical disbursement ranges in detail.

The Local Authority search is the most variable element. Some local authorities turn results around in days; others, particularly those with high transaction volumes or legacy systems, can take several weeks. That single bottleneck is often the reason a conveyancing transaction stalls before exchange.

The total cost for a standard three-search pack typically falls in the range of £250–£400, though properties in specialist risk areas will attract additional charges. Factors that push costs higher include: a high-risk flood zone designation, a property in a coalfield area, a listed building or conservation area status, and any lender-specific requirements for enhanced reports.

Pro Tip: When you instruct your conveyancer, ask for an itemised estimate of search disbursements and an expected turnaround for the Local Authority search specifically. Knowing the bottleneck in advance lets you plan your timeline and avoid being caught out near exchange.

What should you do when a search raises a problem?

A problematic search result is not automatically a reason to pull out. Most issues have a resolution, and your conveyancer's job is to identify which route is proportionate.

• Proceed with contractual protections: the seller may agree to include specific warranties or undertakings in the contract addressing the issue.
• Negotiate on price: a material risk disclosed by a search can justify a price reduction, particularly where remediation or insurance carries an ongoing cost.
• Request indemnity insurance: for certain title defects or historic planning breaches, indemnity insurance is a recognised and widely used solution. It protects both you and your lender against a future claim.
• Commission a specialist survey: an elevated contaminated land result, for example, may warrant a Phase 1 desk study or a full Phase 2 ground investigation before you commit.
• Raise targeted enquiries: your conveyancer can ask the seller's solicitor for specific documentation, planning consents, or evidence that a disclosed issue has been resolved.
• Withdraw from the transaction: where an issue is material, unresolvable, and affects mortgage security or insurability, pulling out before exchange is the legally clean option.

A short checklist of questions worth raising with your conveyancer when a search flags a concern:

• Can this issue be covered by indemnity insurance, and what are the policy exclusions?
• Does this affect my mortgage offer or lender's conditions?
• Is there a title remedy available through HM Land Registry?
• What is the likely cost and timescale of resolving this before exchange?
• Does this affect my ability to develop, extend, or insure the property in future?

Pro Tip: When indemnity insurance is suggested as a fix, read the exclusions carefully before accepting it as a complete solution. Some policies exclude claims arising from known risks or require the insured to take no action that could trigger the underlying liability. Your conveyancer should walk you through the policy terms, not just the premium.

An experienced conveyancer's view on how searches really work in practice

Searches are often described as a formality, but that framing undersells what they actually do. In practice, a conveyancer uses search results as a filter: the results determine which enquiries are worth raising and which would simply add delay without protecting the buyer.

The Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol is explicit on this point. Conveyancers are expected to make targeted, proportionate enquiries based on what the searches actually reveal, not to fire off a standard list of questions regardless of the property's circumstances. Under the Conveyancing Quality Scheme, accredited firms follow the Protocol tightly, and the seller's solicitor is not obliged to respond to enquiries that are irrelevant or abusive. That discipline keeps transactions moving.

What buyers sometimes underestimate is how much the search results shape the entire pre-exchange period. A clean set of results narrows the enquiries to title-specific points and speeds the transaction. A result that flags a flood zone, a mine entry, or a contaminated land indicator opens a separate track of investigation that can add weeks. Neither outcome is a failure of the process. Both are the process working as intended.

If a search result concerns you and your conveyancer's explanation does not fully resolve that concern, you are entitled to ask for a specialist opinion. A structural engineer, an environmental consultant, or a planning solicitor can each provide a more detailed assessment than a search result alone. A good conveyancer will tell you when that step is warranted rather than waiting for you to ask.

Fixed-fee conveyancing quotes that include your searches

Searches are a fixed, unavoidable part of buying property, but the legal fees that surround them do not have to be unpredictable. Conveyancing-solicitor connects buyers across the UK with SRA- and CLC-regulated firms that provide instant, fixed-fee quotes covering both professional fees and search disbursements. You see the full cost upfront, with no hidden charges added at the end.

Every firm in the network is vetted for quality and regulatory compliance, so you are not trading price transparency for service quality. For buyers who want to understand the full cost of a purchase before instructing, the full costs of buying a home guide sets out exactly how searches, stamp duty, and legal fees combine. To get a fixed-fee quote that includes your search pack, request an instant estimate online and compare regulated firms in minutes.

Sources

The sources below are the primary references for the rules, forms, and guidance discussed in this article. Each is maintained by an official body and updated when regulations or fees change.

For the full conveyancing process in England, including how searches fit into the broader timeline from offer to completion, the Conveyancing-solicitor pillar guide covers every stage in plain language.

This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.

Get Your Free Conveyancing Quote

Compare prices from trusted local solicitors. No obligation, no hidden fees.

Get Free Quotes Now