[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Details of the auction legal pack” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:30|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Understanding the Auction Legal Pack[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
What is in the Auction Pack?
An Auction Pack is a bundle of legal documents which must be prepared by the seller and submitted to the Nationwide Property Auction prior to a property being sold at Auction. Our auction pack contains the following documents:
- Evidence of Ownership of the Property – Title Deeds & Plan of the Property
- Special Conditions of Sale to be included as part of the Auction Contract
- Property Information & Fixtures, Fittings & Contents Forms
- Local Authority Search Result
- Water & Drainage Search Result
- Energy Performance Certificate (‘EPC’)
- Any Other Information, (such as copy Planning Permissions etc)
The purpose of the auction pack is to provide as much information up front and before the auction takes place, because, as you have seen, once the hammer falls the final bidder is contractually obliged to purchase the property or run the risk of losing thousands of pounds if they do not.
Evidence of Title
Evidence of Title proves that the seller owns and has the right to sell the property.
If the Property is ‘Registered’, the Evidence of Title will be obtained from the Land Registry. The Land Registry provides an official record of who owns the property and includes ‘Official Copies of Title’ and an ’Official Copy of the Title Plan‘.
If the property is ‘Unregistered’ this means that there is no record of the property at the Land Registry. In this case the auction pack should include an Index Map search together with the documents that the seller intends to rely on to prove that they own the property and have the right to sell it. These will be the old-style ‘title deeds’ – a bundle of documents showing evidence of ownership going back at least 15 years.
If the Property is Leasehold, the auction pack should also include a copy of the Lease itself.
Conditions of Sale – ‘General’ & ‘Special’
The ‘General Conditions of Sale’ are published by the Nationwide Property Auction prior to the auction and usually contained in our catalogue and on our website. They are the basic conditions on which every lot in the auction is sold. You should read through the General Conditions.
In addition to the ‘General Conditions’, a seller can impose specific ‘Special Conditions’. The buyer will purchase the property subject to these Special Conditions. Typically, Special Conditions will include clauses such that the buyer will have to reimburse the seller’s search and legal fees, or that the completion date is to be 14 or 21 days from the date of the auction.
The Property Information and Fixtures, Fittings & Contents Forms
These two forms should be completed by the seller. The Property Information Form must be completed carefully and honestly and contains important information on such things as the responsibility for the boundaries of the property, whether there have been any disputes or notices, building works carried out and any guarantees, details of the services benefiting the property and information on occupiers.
The Fixtures, Fittings & Contents Form is a list of items which the seller intends to leave or remove from the property on completion. The fixtures and fittings list is attached to the contract and forms part of it.
Local Authority Search
The local authority search is a search of the local authority’s records, including planning, building control, highways and environmental departments. It is a search specific to the property only and does not cover neighbouring properties, so for an example it would not reveal planning applications relating to other houses or land in the area.
Water & Drainage Search
This is a search of the Water Authority’s records to check whether the property is connected to the mains drainage and mains water sup-ply. It also advises whether the property has a water meter and gives information on water quality tests for the area.
Energy Performance Certificate
An Energy Performance Certificate, (EPC), gives homeowners and buyers information on the energy and carbon emission efficiency of a Property through an A – G grade rating, where A is very efficient and G is least efficient. The EPC also gives advice on cost effective ways to improve the rating.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]Telephone 0800 009 6304 or send us an email to prepare an Auction Legal Pack for your property. There is a reimbursement of the fee by the buyer.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]