Buying a house: do you have to pay the search fees up front to the conveyencer/solicitor?

[Lolita55]

Buying a house: do you have to pay the search fees up front to the conveyencer/solicitor?
As in, before they start the searches? Even if the legal fees are paid later and it’s no move, no fee for the legal fees.

Would you wait for surveyor results first before paying for searches e.g drainage, local authority etc?

I think it would depend whether the solicitor is prepared to extend you credit, which is what they're doing if they bill you after they've paid for the search themselves. Different firms might differ. But if you pay them before they conduct the search they would need to keep the money in the client account, ringfenced from their own money, and return it to you if it's never used.

As for doing the various due-diligence checks (survey, searches, etc) sequentially or simulationeously, it depends how long you want the transaction to take. Simultaneously - you risk wasting money when one of them reveals information which is deal breaker. But sequentially - you're very likely to piss off the vendor by making the whole thing drag on for months.

I would wait for the survey and then pay for the searches up front - I think this is quite normal, with conveyancing costs settled at the end.

Incidentally, having just done this (twice, because the first chain fell apart) the searches all came back in about a fortnight so it didn’t significantly lengthen the process.