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You?ve found your perfect home out in the country: it?s peaceful; it?s amongst fields; it?s got off-mains drainage ? Wait, what?

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The majority of UK homes are linked into the main drains. Your shower, your sinks, your washing-machine and even your toilets all drain into a nearby sewer, and you pay your local water company for the privilege. But what if your potential dream home isn?t anywhere near a sewer? The answer is typically going to be a septic tank, a cesspit or a sewage treatment plant. Worse still, if it?s a cesspit, it?s not even going anywhere ? it?s just going to be a holding tank.

So what does all this involve?

If you?re making an offer on a house that doesn?t have the luxury (and let?s face it, it is a luxury when you look at it properly) of mains drainage, it does mean you won?t get bills from the water company. Unfortunately you?re likely to be getting bills from somewhere else, because if you buy that house you will have the legal responsibility of ensuring that your system, whatever it is, doesn?t harm the environment and if you don?t follow the rules, and that leads to pollution, you could be fined (or worse). One of the problems is that these systems, like all drainage, is mostly out of sight, so it can be hard to know whether there are likely to be problems.

So what do you need to watch out for?

To begin with, tanks must be emptied regularly, typically this would be perhaps once a year for septic tanks and treatment plants, but it could be as often as eight times a year for a cesspit. Treatment plants also have to be serviced annually.

If you?ve not been put off so far, and that country cottage is still looking charming, be aware that a standard building survey might well not cover the drainage sufficiently for your purposes. You will probably need a specialist survey, at extra cost.

If you?re instructing a solicitor on the purchase they should go into every aspect of it, on your behalf. When was the tank last emptied? What does it usually cost? Is the tank shared with any other property? What condition is the tank in? There are lots of questions it?s worth asking, and Hunter?s Solicitors would be happy to help on this, or any other, aspect of home purchase. Just give us a call, and we?ll take it from there.

The latest new Government initiative is the First Homes Scheme, designed to get people onto the housing ladder in their own local area.

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It?s never exactly been easy for first-time buyers, getting together enough money to put down a deposit on a home. And after the past couple of years it?s been particularly difficult. But in June 2021 the new First Homes scheme was launched in England, aimed at first-time buyers and key workers, who are trying to buy property. Over the next two years in over a hundred locations across the country more homes will become available on new sites.

So how do you qualify for the scheme?

• If you are a key worker or first-time buyer with an income not exceeding ?80,000 (?90,000 in London); and
• If you can get a mortgage for at least 50% of the purchase price; and
• As long as it?s to be your only home.

How do you apply?

Builders and developers involved in the scheme will be able to tell you where the new homes are available and they can handle your application.

You can get more information at www.ownyourhome.gov.uk and once you?re ready to buy, don?t forget to shop around for the solicitors or conveyancing firm who will be handling the conveyancing process for you. There are plenty of cheap quotes out there, but check what exactly you?ll be getting for your money. Here at Hunter?s Solicitors you?ll find no hidden extras, and we?ll give you a complete quote up front, with everything clearly explained. First-time buyers can find the buying process complicated and worrying, but we will explain it to you without all the jargon.

Hunter?s Solicitors would be happy to help on this, or any other, home purchase. Just give us a call.

Scammers seem to be an unavoidable part of modern life, but what steps can we take to protect ourselves against the worst of these ? the ones who target our homes?

Your home is usually your biggest, most precious asset, so what can you do to prevent somebody from fraudulently raising a mortgage against your home ? or, worse, trying to sell it?

Some factors can put you more at risk. These include:-

• If you?ve already been the target of someone stealing your identity
• If you rent out your property
• If you live overseas
• If the property is empty for any reason
• If there is no mortgage on it
• If it?s not been registered with H. M. Land Registry

So what can you do?

If your property was bought or re-mortgaged since 1998 it will be listed at the Land Registry, and your name will be on it as proprietor. So your first step is to find out if it?s there. You can ask your solicitor to search online for you, or you can do it yourself, on payment of a small fee. At www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry you will find out how to check.

If your property is there, it?s a simple matter to sign up with the Land Registry for property alerts. You can register up to ten properties ? and it won?t cost you a penny. If at any time someone were to try altering anything on your property the Land Registry would automatically warn you, giving you the chance to stop it before it gets started.

You can also put on something called a ?restriction?, for a small fee, preventing anyone from mortgaging or selling your house without a solicitor or conveyancer certifying that it?s definitely you. And if you don?t live in your property a restriction would be free.

But what if your property isn?t registered? The best way to protect it is to register it yourself. This is called First Registration, and it?s easy to do, especially if you get Hunter?s Solicitors on board to take the heavy lifting out of it for you.

So don?t delay: make sure nobody out there can get their hooks into your home, for your own peace of mind. And Hunter?s Solicitors will be happy to help.