A local land charge is a liability or burden imposed on land, which is binding on successive owners. A land search is important because it will tell you about possible restrictions or issues affecting your home.
A local land charge search is required every time a property or piece of land is purchased or leased or an evaluation is carried out. Trained Customer Service Agents carry out all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975, guaranteeing comprehensive replies to the official LLC1 and CON29 enquiries. When carrying out a search, other statutory public bodies may also be consulted, including Surrey County Council's Highways Department.
What is an official search?
A search is made up of two parts:
The LLC1 Form - The LLC1 form is a search of the Local Land Charges Register only and deals with all the registerable charges. For example: financial charges (registered against the property by the local authority), improvement grants, tree preservation orders, conditional planning consents and agreements and buildings of special architectural and historical interest.
The CON29 Form - The second part consists of the CON29R and the CON29O form. The CON29R form contains a series of standard questions and deals with issues such as road schemes, the planning history of the property and various notices which affect the property. In addition, the CON29O form consists of optional enquiries that may also be requested for an additional fee. Purchasers can also request information from the Council that is not covered by the standard or optional questions.
How to request a search
Both the LLC1 and CON29 forms should be submitted at the same time if answers to both are required. Searches must include the following when submitted to be accepted for processing:
- the correct fee (see below)
- a correct and clear address of the property
- a scaled, up-to-date site plan showing the boundaries of the property or land, clearly marked in red (not essential if the search is against a single residential address).
Searches can be requested by post, email, DX post (DX 30713 Epsom) or in person.
Fees for Official Searches
Link to Land Charges fees (pdf - 11kb)
Searches will usually be processed and returned within five working days. Copies of planning decision notices and building control completion certificates issued within the last 10 years are included with completed searches where available to give as complete a history of the property as possible.
Personal Searches
A personal search is an inspection of the Local Land Charges Register. This is completed free of charge.
To request a personal search, please either email us or call 01372 732000 with the full property address and details of any CON29R questions that you wish to have answered.
We require at least two working days' notice for personal searches to be compiled.
Fees for Personal Searches (Component Search)
If a questionnaire is submitted for a component search, each question will be charged at £2.25.
The cash office is open 10am - 2pm, Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours, but within normal office hours of 9am - 5pm, a drop-in safe is available for cash/cheque deposits. However, please be aware that change cannot be provided.
Staff on the Customer Service Desk will be able to take credit/debit card payments only.
If you have any queries or wish to discuss your requirements with a member of staff, please call 01372 732000 and ask for the Land Charges department during office hours, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
Link to CON29 Questionnaire (pdf - 56kb).