What is included in an auction legal pack?

With every property that is auctioned by Pugh you will find a legal pack on the property listings page of our website. They are available for you to download a copy of so that you and your solicitor can review them.

You will find the legal pack by clicking on the ‘Legal Documents’ tab on the listing of the relevant property.

The contents of the pack typically include the following documents, though this will vary significantly depending on whether it is currently a rental property, a home being sold to live in, a commercial building or simply land being sold for investment or potential development:

 Common Auction Conditions for Real Estate Auctions (the terms of the auction)
 Details of the Buyer's Premium
 EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)
 Sale Memorandum
 Insurance Policy Schedule
 Latest copies of utility bills and/or contracts with utilities suppliers
 Official Copy of the Title Plan
 Official Copy of the Deed
 Official Copy of the Lease
 Official Copy of the Register with HM Land Registry (describes the land and estate comprised in the title)
 Freehold/Leasehold documents
 Tenancy agreements / Landlord’s certificate
 Ground Search
 Drainage and Water Searches
 Local Authority Search
 Environmental Search
 Coal Mining Search
 Planning Determinations/ Planning Permissions

In some cases some of these documents will not be available or may not even be relevant to the property type. Likewise in some cases you will find other documents in the pack relating to special conditions relevant to the sale of the building and/or land.

The Sale Memorandum is usually an incomplete document containing the name and address of the seller and the seller’s solicitors. Once the auction concludes the Name and address of the buyer and the buyer’s solicitors will be added to the sale memorandum, along with the amount of the sale price and the deposit paid.

It may also contain notes such as: ‘In addition to the deposit to be paid to the Auctioneer on exchange of contracts, the successful buyer will be required to pay the Auctioneers a Buyer’s Premium for each lot purchased. The SELLER agrees to sell and the BUYER agrees to buy the LOT for the PRICE. The Seller agrees this sale is subject to the conditions of sale applicable to the lot including the RICS
Common Auction Conditions.’

If you have not purchased a property at an auction before it is important that you read the Buyer’s Premium policy and the Common Auction Conditions. You should also read the rest of the documents if you can and ask your solicitor to review them.

An overall summary of the details of the property can also be found in the description section on the listing page and this can be useful to cross reference with the legal pack, to ensure that you have understood the legal documents.

If you believe that there is any important information about the property which is missing you can contact the relevant Pugh office for further details. We also have an extensive ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section for buyers on our website which also helps to review when preparing to bid in one of our auctions.

In addition, it is usually possible to view properties before auction and if you arrange to do so you are free to bring a surveyor or builder along with you to assess the property’s value and any potential renovations that might be required