Solicitor's negligence on property searches

When you buy a property, your conveyancing solicitor should carry out searches to check whether there are any proposed developments nearby. If a solicitor fails to carry out the searches, or if they do not tell you what the searches reveal, you could have a claim against them for negligence. 

The recent case of Orientfield Holdings Limited v Bird and Bird LLP has again underlined the importance of detailed attention being given to the results of searches in residential property transactions.

In this case, the purchaser of a property in London was disappointed when he discovered that there was proposed development for a school site nearby, for 1400 special needs children. The purchase price of the property was £25.75 million. 

The claimant won against his solicitors, as the solicitors had failed to communicate details of the search carried out which had revealed the potential development. The solicitors had carried out the searches correctly. However, they had failed to tell their clients what they had found, which was clearly negligent. 

Solicitor failed to tell you about development?

Has a solicitor failed to tell you about a development near your property before you purchased it? Or perhaps you have discovered other problems with your property since you moved in, which your solicitor or the seller ought to have notified you about?

If you would not have bought the property at all, had you known about the potential for development, or if you think you could have negotiated a lower price, if you had had all of the information, you may be able to bring a claim against your solicitor for negligence. 

At Samuels Solicitor, we have many years of experience of bringing claims against solicitors for negligence of this type. We have a network of experts who will be able to provide you with the advice that you need to prove that the value of your property has suffered. 

We will assess most matters initially for free, although in some cases where the paperwork is extensive we will need to make a charge for this work.

We also understand that you may not have the funds available to pay our fees up front, and if you have a strong claim, we will discuss our flexible funding options with you, which can include conditional fee agreements. 

Contact us today for a no obligation discussion about your matter.