Over the summer I was on holiday in Cornwall, and much to my wife’s amusement, I can never resist looking in the estate agents’ windows at properties for sale to see what the local market has to offer. You can take the property lawyer out of the office but….
My attention was caught by the public toilet in Newlyn that is going to be sold at auction by the local authority as they have closed down the conveniences due to a lack of funds. The property was being marketed with ‘development potential’ for a conversion to residential property. I had a look on the Land Registry website and saw that the property is part of a larger title including an adjoining car park. I then started wondering about how much of the title would be sold to the buyer and what rights would they have over the adjoining land being retained by the Council; Will they have all the necessary rights of access and services?
The property is being sold at auction and the auctioneers should have an auction pack answering all my questions and it would be vital that anyone bidding has the pack carefully checked. With the popularity of programmes such as ‘Homes under the Hammer’ buying properties to do up at auction has become more popular but I am amazed at the number of people who don’t have the legal pack checked prior to bidding. Without checking the pack, you literally don’t know what you are buying.
If you thinking on bidding on a lot at auction, please contact us first so we can advise you on the legal pack!
If you are thinking of buying by auction or you have a general query and would like to book an appointment with our Residential Property team then please get in touch on 01256 320555 or email mail@clarkeandson.co.uk.
