Enquiries before contract play a part in various scenarios; for example, they are raised by a purchaser on the acquisition of freehold or leasehold land, by a tenant before the grant of a new lease, by a mortgagee before taking a charge over land or by a landlord before accepting a surrender of a lease.
This Practice Note looks at the role of enquiries in the due diligence process and what to do when faced with preliminary enquiries in commercial property transactions. For simplicity, reference here will be made to seller and buyer although this can include landlord and tenant or mortgagor and mortgagee as appropriate.
For links to the Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSEs) and associated guidance, see Practice Note: Commercial Property Standard Enquiries—CPSE.
For links to the standard form residential conveyancing enquiries, see Practice Note: Residential property—enquiries before contract.
Enquiries before contract (also called pre-contract enquiries or preliminary enquiries) form part of the due diligence carried out by a prospective buyer in a property transaction. Although enquiries before contract are often treated as