I'm selling my house & I have recieved a document called a "Chancel Check Report". can anyone explain this

Question

I have never heard of this document before, has anyone ever come across it when selling their homes. This land was council land, prior to being developed 40 years ago. Nobody I have spoken to has heard of it

Answer 1

A chancel is the part of a church for priests to use, usually separated from the nave by railings or a lattice (dictionary). There are lots of references to chancel searches as being part of the searches done when selling a property.
The only thing I can make of it, is if the land (prior to the council owning it) had a liability towards the church in the manner described in the link attached.
Ask your solicitor, they should know about it.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/ifa_l1_chancelrepairs.pdf

oh, ok, I just found this:

Chancel check Search

There has recently been a case decided by the Courts whereby a Church relied upon a covenant made in medieval times by the then owner/occupier of a property whereby the present owner/occupier had to pay a sum of £95,000.00 to a Church towards its maintenance.

We are therefore offering all of our Clients, a Chancel Search at a price of £75.00 plus VAT to ascertain whether or not your property is at risk. If the Search shows that property is at risk, then we can disclose the result of the same to your Seller’s Solicitors and request your Seller to pay Indemnity Insurance against the event that a Church could in the future request monies to maintain it.

I found it here:
http://www.hmtlegal.com/PAGES/HOUSE%20BUYING.htm

Hope that enlightens you!

Answer 2

If your land was owned by a council, its possible that some-time in history, it could have been owned by the church. The Chancel check report is a report saying that church records have been checked to make sure that your land does not have any liability attached to it for church repairs.
A few years ago, a family in a village near my home bought an old farm house. Back in history that farm had been part of an estate which included the local church. So when the church needed a new roof in 2002 or 2003, the church authorities were entitled to ask the current owners of the farm house to pay for it. Suddenly they got a bill for hundreds of thousands of £££'s.
Your Report is important to make sure that cannot happen to the owners of your property.

Answer 3

yes, its a legal document to check that its not about to be swooped on by local clergy - you dont need it your solicitor does, or you got it from them just as confirmation.

Its part of a range of searches your solicitor does - one of the more acrane ones but still necessary.

Answer 4

Hi

I think this will help.

https://secure.clsl.co.uk/index.php

http://www.chancelrepairsearches.co.uk/

Answer 5

whats the question?