What is in an auction legal pack?
The pack is the seller's disclosure and it does the job that ten weeks of enquiries would do on a private sale. A good pack contains the title register and plan, searches, the seller's replies to standard enquiries, any lease and management information, tenancy agreements, planning and building regulation documents, the energy performance certificate and the special conditions of sale. The auctioneer's general conditions, often the RICS common auction conditions for real estate auctions, fifth edition of July 2024, published as an appendix to the RICS professional standard on auctioneers selling real estate, sit behind it.
What is missing matters as much as what is there. No searches means you order your own or price the risk in. No replies to enquiries means the seller is not answering, and the conditions probably say you buy with full knowledge anyway. Our report sets out both columns.
| Document | What it tells you | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Title register and plan | Who owns it, what charges and restrictions exist, and the extent | Defects, missing rights, restrictive covenants, whether the plan matches the lot |
| Searches | Local authority, drainage and environmental position | Their date, and whether a funder will accept them or fresh ones are needed |
| Replies to enquiries | What the seller says about boundaries, disputes, services and works | Gaps, evasions and anything contradicted by the title |
| Leases and tenancies | Term, rent, deposit and what possession rights exist | Whether the tenancy is what the catalogue says, and whether the deposit was protected |
| Special conditions | Completion date, deposit, and what extra the buyer must pay | Every clause that adds cost or shortens the timetable |
| Planning and building regulations | Whether works were lawful and signed off | Enforcement risk and what indemnity insurance could cover |
What is the difference between a traditional and a modern method auction?
At a traditional, unconditional auction, the contract is made when the auctioneer accepts the winning bid, which in the room is the fall of the hammer. You sign the memorandum, pay the deposit, usually a tenth of the price excluding VAT or the auctioneer's stated minimum if that is higher, and are bound to complete by the date in the special conditions. Where those conditions fix no date, the Common Auction Conditions (5th edition, July 2024, checked 20 September 2026) set completion at 20 business days after the contract date, which is about four weeks. Failing to complete forfeits the deposit and exposes you to a claim. It suits cash and bridging buyers and gives sellers certainty on the day.
The modern method, or conditional auction, is different in law. The winning bidder pays a non-refundable reservation fee to the auctioneer and receives a reservation period in which to exchange and complete. Nothing published sets how long that period is or what the fee should be: both are set by the individual auctioneer's terms, which is why those terms have to be read before the hammer falls rather than after. Checked 20 September 2026. A mortgage is realistic on this route. The reservation fee is usually not part of the price, so it is lost if you withdraw, and whether it counts towards Stamp Duty Land Tax or Land Transaction Tax depends on who receives it and on what terms. Neither HMRC nor the Welsh Revenue Authority publishes anything on a reservation fee retained by the auctioneer, so nobody can tell you the answer from the outside: it has to be read out of the reservation agreement itself, and we will do that before you rely on a figure. Checked 20 September 2026.
How do I sell a property at auction?
The seller's job is a pack that leaves bidders no reason to hold back. We obtain the title, order searches so bidders do not have to, complete the property information forms, gather leases, tenancy agreements and planning documents, and draft the special conditions, including the completion period and any costs the buyer will bear. The pack goes to the auctioneer two to three weeks before the sale so serious bidders can have it reviewed.
After the hammer, the buyer is bound and we deal with the buyer's representative through to completion within the auction timetable. Sellers with an inherited home or a property that has fallen through by private treaty may find auction quicker and more certain, provided the pack is complete.