¾«Æ·¹ú²ú×ÔÏßÎçÒ¹¸£Àû

It has come to the attention of the Committee that solicitors acting for the purchaser of a property are often requiring that the vendor provide a Statutory Declaration confirming that the vendor has not carried out any “development” to the Subject Property and further that the vendor has not received any warning letters or enforcement notices from the planning authority.

Such declarations are being requested even in circumstances where General Condition 32 of the Law Society Conditions of Sale has not been altered. Practitioners are reminded that General Condition 32 provides as follows:

1. The vendor warrants that there has not been during the vendor’s period of ownership any development which would require planning permission or in the alternative that all planning permissions required for the development were obtained and have been complied with.
2. The vendor is required to disclose any breach of or non-compliance with planning of which the vendor is actually aware in respect of the period prior to the vendor’s ownership. This includes, but is not limited to, any matter disclosed to the vendor at the time of purchase (for example, in the contract or replies to requisitions).

Where General Condition 32 remains unamended, the Committee considers that it is not appropriate for the purchaser’s solicitor to insist on the vendor furnishing a declaration which merely verifies the matters already warranted by General Condition 32. In circumstances where General Condition 32 is not amended, such planning declarations should not as a matter of practice be sought or provided.

The Committee would like to remind the profession that General Condition 32 should not be amended without reason and where there is a reason why a vendor might wish to amend General Condition 32 the reason(s) for any such amendment should be disclosed to the purchaser.

The committee further reminds practitioners that it is good conveyancing practice to carry out planning searches before the date of sale.