Buyer beware! A Roman Warning still relevant in 2024

Our readers may well be familiar with the legal concept of ‘caveat emptor’ or ‘let the buyer beware’.

In simplest terms, this means that the buyer (not the seller) takes the risk in what they are buying, and therefore must satisfy themselves as to all aspects of the item being purchased. This may be legal title, or condition, or any potential defects, for example.

Whilst that doctrine dates back millennia, it is still as important now as it was on inception.

Most recently, this notion has appeared in an article reported by the Daily Mail on 13 December 2024, concerning a ‘dream house’ that had a bridleway crossing the property, and which the buyer said he had no knowledge of. For further information, that article can be read here.

Regardless of the outcome of that particular case, it does though highlight the great importance of carrying out full searches when purchasing property, and raising pre-contract enquiries (and supplemental pre-contract enquiries, if necessary) to ensure that the most possible information is obtained about a property.

Typically, we will carry out a local search of the local authority records, a drainage search, a planning application search, an environmental search, a search of chancels, and depending upon the location of a target property, perhaps searches such as brine mining, radon, or china clay, for example.

The results of such searches are invaluable and help inform a purchaser of any matters which might affect their use and enjoyment of the property. They are essential when lending is involved, to protect a creditor from issues should repossession proceedings need to be instigated.

For further detail as to how our UK Real Estate team protects our clients on their purchase, please do not hesitate to contact our dedicated team led by Anna Douglass, and supported by Alastair Hargreaves, Caren Vidamour, and Hannah Damant, who will be delighted to assist.