UK Due Diligence Checklist

Why: Reveals planning history, enforcement notices, road schemes, local charges. Lenders usually require it.

Why: Flags contaminated land, landfill history, past industrial use. Essential to avoid cleanup liability.

Why: Confirms public sewer connection, water supply, and whether drains run under the property.

Why: Rare but brutal: some parishes can bill freeholders for church chancel repairs. A one-off indemnity is cheap insurance.

Why: Verifies seller is registered proprietor, shows restrictions, covenants, easements, and charges.

Why: Check title plan against physical boundaries. Disputes with neighbours are disclosable and kill future sales.

Why: Unauthorised extensions or missing building regs certificates can force costly remediation or demolition.

Why: Strict controls on alterations, materials, even paint colour. Affects renovation plans and insurance.

Why: Old covenants can restrict extensions, commercial use, or pets. Some can be breached, some can't.

Why: Ensures legal access to the property and checks third-party rights over your land.

Why: Shared access = shared maintenance liability. Check contributions are documented.

Why: TPOs restrict what you can do with trees on the plot. Unauthorised work is a criminal offence with £20K fines.

Why: Extensions or conversions without permission can trigger enforcement for up to 10 years (4 for operational dev).

Why: Live enforcement = you inherit the problem. Deal breaker unless priced in heavily.

Why: Required from exchange (freehold) or check block policy (leasehold). Flood/subsidence areas can make insurance unaffordable.

Why: Confirms lender support. BTL and HMO need specialist products with higher stress tests.

Why: 3% additional surcharge on BTL and second homes. First-time buyers get relief up to £425K.

Why: Affects insurability and future value. Check Environment Agency data and insurance quotes before exchange.

Why: Presence makes mortgage lending difficult and remediation costs £2,000-£15,000. Now standard on surveys.

Why: Past subsidence is disclosable and affects insurance premiums significantly.

Why: HomeBuyer for modern homes, full Building Survey for older/quirky properties. Finds the £10K surprises.

Why: Legally required. Minimum E for BTL (rising to C by 2028 proposed). Below E = un-lettable and hits mortgage options.