In general terms, you should make a commons search whenever you are dealing with property which is (or which is next to) land that has never been built on, or which at one time may have belonged to the Lord of the Manor, or which you think may possibly be a town or village green. Also, consider doing a search where a verge strip, or other land that is not owned by the property being bought, separates the property from the public highway. Commons searches should not be confined to rural areas only, since many small vacant pieces of urban land are subject to registered common rights. In practical terms, however, there is no need to search when in a fully developed urban area. Bear in mind also that many registrations will affect only small areas of land (eg the grass verge between the garden of a house and the publicly maintained highway). It is important to search even those small areas, since if rights were registered over such strips then it would not be possible to obtain planning permission to alter the access way to the property. Source: Conveyancing Searches and Enquiries (3rd edition; Russell Hewitson, Frances Silverman; Jordans £49). © Practical Lawyer