is the chancel repair some thing to worry about when buying a house
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0dicemagic postedIt depends upon whether the chancel still exists and whether the church has applied for a chancel interest in the property beyond the 2013 dead line. So the answer is if you think there may be a significant Chancel Liability then you should get it investigated during the normal searches prior to purchase.
You can find out much more at http://www.chancel.org.uk and your solicitor shoudl find any issues with chancel during a search.
Posted on 21 November 2009 |
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134liesarenocomfort posted
Just to follow up on dicemagic's answer, this is a case where a local solicitor with local knowledge should know whether properties in their area are at risk.
The Chancel Repair search is not very expensive (well under £100 usually)and if it reveals the property you are buying is potentially "at risk" you can buy an insurance policy to cover against this. These policies charge a "one-off" (rather than annual) premium usually based on the value of the property you are buying. The policy prices range from about £50 to a few hundred and are designed to pay out in the remote event the church were to levy demands on the properties within their parish.
By far the majority of properties will not even be "at risk"
Liesar
Posted on 22 November 2009 | Love 1 love
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16Mister W posted
No, this is a con. The only company offering chancel repair insurance is the same company who does the searches. Conflict of interest? I think so.
There has been a single case of someone being forced to pay for church repairs because of a liability linked to their house. However, that liability was specifically mentioned in their deeds. Funnily enough, that's the case detailed on the company's website. No-one else has ever been asked to pay for church repairs under these circumstances and the likelihood of anyone being asked is vanishingly small. Even if you were asked, the liability is calculated according to some ancient formula and is spread across all the liable properties which means the amount you would theoretically have to pay would be very small.
Posted on 24 November 2009 | Love 0 loves
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