Chancel Liability
Chancel Repair Liability dates back to medieval times, when Churches (or more specifically their Chancels) were maintained by wealthy land owners, since medieval times what used to be large estates of land have now been broken down in to many thousands of privately owned properties, yet the potential for Chancel Repair Liabilities has been passed down to successive owners of the land or buildings.
Thankfully these archaic laws are changing, and once October 2013 has passed, unless the Church has expressed a specific interest in your property (by noting their interest with the inland revenue) you, or your property will no longer be at risk, on the flip side however this does of course mean that there is an increased risk of Churches investigating potential liabilties for properties within their parishes.
To identify and protect against Chancel Repair Liability, ETSOS offers ChancelCheck® from CLS Ltd, The search includes results for Enclosure Awards and corn rents. The product allows conveyancers to comply with Law Society and CML guidelines of conducting all "usual and necessary searches" and then considering insurance where a risk has been identified.
