Hi there
I am in the process of purchasing a flat on Farren road. My solicitor has said that I would need to obtain a Chanel Indemnity Policy.
This is the first I’ve heard of this sort of thing so just reading about it.
Is this common in the area? Does anyone on here have experience of this?
Thanks!
It sounds as if the owner of the property may be liable to repair the local church.
I suggest you get a quotation from an insurance company.
I don’t think it is common in this area.
We had this as part of our conveyancing and we’re in a typical flat within a victorian house, I think it’s quite normal if you’re in close proximity to a church, if I recall correctly we made a small payment as part of the conveyancing that covered us against it. I think it’s just a quirky old law…
I did live on Como road and had no such issue. A chancel repair liability would come back in the searches so ask your solicitor if you are actually liable or not (I very much doubt you are), otherwise it’s a complete waste of money.
Thanks all, really appreciate your thoughts. il ask my solicitor tomorrow. I get the impression it has come up in the searches…so I would need take out insurance. I hope it’s not a problem…!
Consider contacting the church involved. It or the diocese may, of course, decided to no longer enforce the covenant or even have ceased to exist - which may solve your problem 
Chancel tax. How is this still a thing. It’s just to cover you, but I very much doubt it’s enforceable these days unless the land is owned by the church and written into your lease. (I’m not a lawyer though)
As I understand it, the law around Chancel Liability was changed in Oct 2013. The church had to register a potential liability before that date. There are circumstances in which they can still register eg: if the freeholder owned it before that date. So more likely to affect flats where it’s a leasehold being sold.
The link below explains it better than I can.
The annoying thing is you still pay in the end, because lawyers still recommend you pay for a search. Are they wasting our money or has the government not been explicit enough that it’s no longer required? Conveyancing is one of those industries that really needs to modernise and embrace the digital age.
You need to make searches before buying a property. I once spent all day in Westminster making the various searches for a client, who was keen for a quick purchase. Land charges searches also tell you things like whether there is a sewer for the property and who pays to maintain the highway. Not normally a problem round here.
Way back in the early noughties the Government of the day introduced the Home Information Pack. This put the burden of producing LA searches, guarantees, property deeds and an energy performance certificate on the seller. A good idea in that a buyer would have at hand all the necessary information before going down an expensive path… and only required this information to be acquired once.
Sadly, in response to objections and lobbying by the real estate sector and large property owners, in 2010 this useful tool was suspended by the government of that day. Except for the energy performance certificate.
It still exists in Scotland and is a great thing!