If the solicitor performs the searches, even at additional cost then they are liable if they get it wrong. I’ve used 2 different (both came highly recommended) solicitors for my property purchases in the UK and neither would allow me to perform my own searches, not that I wanted to.
If you’ve been quoted £150 for a solicitor to perform the searches than that’s cheap, relative to what you’d pay in London anyway. Your call though, but a few hundred here and there to ensure the largest purpose in your life (so far) proceeds without a hitch seems fairly trivial to me.
I paid for a full structural survey for my most recent property purchase and that set me back just over £1k. The original lender also charged over £1k for their own survey which was 2 pages long, the first being a header. At least my independent survey came with pictures, quotes and was nicely bound (was also over 30 pages with plenty of detail) so I felt I was getting something for the money.
Note that NHBC warranties are largely junk. Unless something major goes wrong you can’t be sure they will cover it and even then it’s questionable. The residential building regulations in the UK leave a lot to be desired and there are a lot of areas that are open to interpretation. Also, the “standards” that are set out are fairly loose. This is from personal experience when several of the residents at my previous property made similar complaints and NHBC sided with the builder. The NHBC are there to protect the builder and not the purchaser.


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