Property problems are rarely discovered late by accident. They are discovered late because the checks were left until after the deposit.
One. The title
Confirm who holds the title, what kind of right it is, and how long it has left to run. A right of occupancy with a short remaining term is a different asset from one with decades on it, and it prices differently.
Two. What is allowed on the land
The permitted use is not always what the current occupier is doing. A building operating as a warehouse does not prove that a warehouse is permitted there. Check the planning position against what you intend to do, not against what you can see.
Three. Who else has an interest
Mortgages, charges, existing leases, rights of way, unregistered occupiers. Any of these can survive your purchase. Ask for the encumbrances in writing rather than accepting a verbal assurance that the title is clean.
The seller is not usually hiding anything. They simply have not looked at their own title in eleven years.
Four. The physical reality
Boundaries on a plan and boundaries on the ground disagree more often than anyone expects. Walk the site with the survey in hand. Look for structures that cross a line, access that depends on a neighbour’s goodwill, and services that come in from somewhere nobody can identify.
Five. What happens if it takes longer
Most commercial property timetables assume that consents arrive on schedule. Agree now what happens if they do not. Who carries the cost of the delay, and at what point either side can walk away.
Practical steps
If you are already in negotiation, ask for the title documents and the encumbrances before you agree the price rather than after. It is a normal request and the answer tells you a great deal about how the rest of the transaction will go.