Part of the process of buying a new home is for the buyer’s solicitor to perform a Local Authority search. But why? The conveyancing solicitors will say it’s to inform and protect the Homebuyers from any material surprises such as; flood plains, gases, landfill, historic land usage and permissions, planning issues, and detrimental long term town plans.
However, what the current Local Search does not include is any reference to the existence of Aircraft corridors, flight paths and known flight holding stacks within the area. Why?
One of the reasons “why” is because Local Authorities and District Councils believe they are powerless as they don’t own or manage the flight paths and corridors. Your local MP will also echo this sentiment too. So who is responsible and is the required information available?
The answer may surprise you as it’s not the airports themselves but a government agency known as NATs. NATs is responsible for the movement and positioning of aircraft whilst in UK airspace.
Experience tells us that the flight corridors and paths, created and managed by NATs, are very difficult and costly to change once established. So if you find yourself in a situation where you are being disrupted by aircraft it will be almost impossible to change and you will get little sympathy from the Government agencies . Meaning, it’s best to find out about the existence and usage of flight corridors and paths prior to purchasing a property. I.e. be informed! But how?
Unfortunately the “how” is not at all straight forward as although the flight information is available to the Government bodies there are no policies, guidance or standards about how the flight information should be presented to the payers of Stamp Duty.
Our objective is to lobby the UK Government departments to they can make the required changes to the Homebuyers Local Authority Searches to document the existence of local aircraft movements and flight corridors and paths. We believe the public have the right to know.
If you are interested in joining us on this journey then please leave your comments on the contact form below.