Basic legal concepts
"Lockout" Agreements
Don't fall foul of the legal aspects of conveyancing and property ownership.
Superficially and theoretically, a lockout agreement seems to be an effective way to prevent gazumping. In reality, don't get your hopes up.
The scenario: you, the buyer, will spend money on a survey and searches and other legal fees after your offer is accepted. But the seller is free to accept another higher offer, and if this occurs, you will have wasted a considerable amount of dosh.
Why not, then, get the vendor to agree to lock out other buyers, to ignore other offers?
A vendor who intends to honour his commitment to sell to you at your offered price needs no written contract to that effect.
A vendor who is open to higher offers can and will do so even with a lockout agreement.
Lockout agreements have at least two shortcomings for buyers:
A further difficulty: vendors' solicitors generally advise their clients against lockout agreement, because such agreements are simply not in the seller's interests.
Vacant Possession
Vacant means vacant as in empty - of furniture as well as people. But curtains, carpets and a few other items can fall into a no-man's-land.
Fixtures and Fittings
Mine is mine and yours is, er, mine too. You are selling your house, you love your curtains, and you plan to take them with you to your new home. On the other hand, your big, heavy old-fashioned television no longer works and you intend to leave it behind.
What are the rights and wrongs to this kind of issue, which brings grief to many buyers and sellers? The short answer is for the solicitors on both sides to ensure that fixtures and fittings are listed, and each side knows what will happen with each item. British courts have been dealing with "fixtures and fittings" issues since at least 1703. As for leaving items behind, vendors may fall foul of vacant possession. Tread carefully and carry a big solicitor.
Leases
If you own a flat, you have a lease. If you own a house, you might also have a lease, but such instances are rare.
If you are a leaseholder, do you have an actual copy of your lease in your possession? Have you ever read it? If it is complex or hard to understand, has your solicitor explained the main terms to you?
In general, it is wise to know what your lease contains. In particular cases, it is essential—for example, a young couple may buy a flat with a view to knocking down a wall or moving the bathroom. The lease may halt them in their tracks. Here is the text of an actual lease for a London flat.
"Joint Tenants’ v Tenants in Common’
If you co-own a property with a brother, sister, lover or friend (or enemy), this distinction between a joint tenancy and a tenancy in common is critically important. Spouses and civil partners should also realise that the distinction also applies to them and has serious consequences, especially regarding inheritance tax.
A Land Registry brochure (Public Guide 18 - Joint Property Ownership) explains the differences between beneficial joint tenants and tenants in common. It is available free from all Land Registry offices and can be viewed, downloaded and printed via the Land Registry website (www.landregistry.gov.uk\publications).
Local Search
The standard local search is necessary but narrow: the council provides information on the property you specify. It does not report on the potentially more important questions concerning what your neighbours might be up to—unless you ask.
Here is what Sevenoaks District Council has to say on this matter:
"The Council will only answer the standard questions unless you specify any other questions you would like answered. You should tell your solicitor before they submit the search about any additional questions you would like answered. The responses to a search will only relate to the property or land named on the forms."
And Hertsmere local council (sevenoaks.gov.uk/business/91.asp) provides an ample list of the many details involved in searches. These details are listed on the Local Search page.
Personal Search
If there are nearby garages or open fields or houses with large gardens, try to find out if anyone is trying to redevelop them.
Even if the answer comes back that no one has currently applied to develop a nearby site, if the site has residential potential, it might be developed in the future. Consider how you would feel if, in the future, someone were to do so.