Local land charges

In this section you will find:

General information on local land charge searches
Local land charges - search fees and charges
Local land charges - local authority searches
Local land charges - personal searches

A local land charge search should be carried out when a property or piece of land is being sold, purchased, leased or valued to find out if there are any matters affecting the land.

Searches are usually done by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer acting on behalf of a person buying or selling land or property.

The search is a series of standard questions giving potential buyer information about the property. For a fee, additional information can be requested, see below.

All searches must be accompanied by the full fee and two copies of a site location plan, to a scale of 1:2500.

Search information

A local land charges search is divided into two parts; the LLC1 and the CON29. These are normally submitted together with a location plan in duplicate to Ordnance Survey standards by the solicitor or licensed conveyancer acting on the buyer's behalf.

Form LLC1 is a search of the local land charges register and will tell you if, for example, the property is a listed building or if it is in a conservation area or smoke control zone. It will also tell you if any trees on the property are protected by tree preservation orders.
The CON29 contains a series of standard questions covering planning, highways and environmental issues.

Requesting a search can be done electronically, by post or in person.

Electronic searches - your solicitor can request and receive searches electronically as we are a member of the national electronic search scheme called NLIS. Electronic searches are usually completed much quicker - currently less than 3 days on average.

Paper submission - when requesting a full Local Land Charges search by post you should include either forms LLC1 and CON29 in duplicate (these forms are obtainable from Solicitors or Law Stationers). You must include an up to date plan showing the area to be searched in red. You should also send the relevant payment (see below).

Additional enquiries - the search will only provide information on the named property. If information is required for surrounding properties or land, this must be requested separately. There is a fee for this service.

You can also request further information not covered by the standard questions; such as public footpaths, planning, building control, highways, and environmental health as well as policy information contained in the Local Plan.

Questions must be clear - queries such as 'in the vicinity' are too vague.

Remember to include the necessary search fee (see below) for any additional enquiries.

Local land charge search fees and charges

The fees from 1 April 2011 are:

LLC1 only	£12.00
LLCI only (Electronic Submission)	£8.00
Basic (LLC1 & Con29R)	£127.40
Basic (LLC1 & Con29R) (Electronic Submission)	£121.80
Con29O questions (each) (except questions 4, 5 & 22)	£15.00
Con29O question 4	£20.00
Con29O question 5	£18.00
Con29O question 22*	£22.00
Own questions (each)	£18.00
Each extra parcel of land	£19.30
Cancellation fee (only applies if processing has not begun)	£24.80
Copy search fee	£11.64 (£9.70 + £1.94 vat)
*An extra parcel fee of £1 per parcel will be levied, where appropriate