Local Land Charges

What is a Local Land Charges Search?

When you purchase, lease, or value a property or a piece of land, it is important a Local Land Charges Search is carried out to make sure there are no charges affecting the land or property. A Local Land Charge is a restriction or prohibition imposed on land or property or a financial charge, which is binding on successive owners or occupiers of land or property.

We, as the Local Planning Authority, are the only source for this official certified search. We have a statutory duty, under the Local Land Charges Act 1975, to maintain an accurate and up-to-date Local Land Charges Register and to carry out Local Land Charges Searches for land or property located within the boundaries of Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council areas.

If you are not sure of the Local Planning Authority boundary in which your land or property is located, please check the postcode via the gov.uk find your local council online search facility.

Further helpful guidance relating to Local Land Charges can be found in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guidance on how to buy a home and how to sell a home.

What does a Local Land Charges Search cover?

A full Local Land Charges Search, known as an Official Certificate of Search, will reveal the relevant history belonging to a parcel of land. This includes:

Planning Applications (back to 1948)
Agreements (if applicable)
Article 4 Directions (if applicable)
Tree Preservation Orders (if applicable)
Enforcement Notices (if applicable)
Building Control Applications (15 years)
Basic Highway replies (for example, is my property on an adopted road)
Environmental Health information
Public Rights of Way

Local Land Charges Search – submission requirements

A Local Land Charges Search/Official Certificate of Search comprises a LLC1 form plus a CON29R Part 1 Enquiries form. In addition, an optional CON29O Part 2 Enquiries form can be submitted. It is necessary to provide completed LLC1 and CON29 forms for your submission to be processed.

The LLC1 form is the official requisition of search of the Local Land Charges Register and discloses the registered entries affecting the land or property.
The CON29R form, asks questions on topics such as highway adoption, road schemes, planning designations, planning permissions, and building regulations.
The CON29O form comprises an additional optional 18 pre-set questions which make up Part 2 of the CON29 form. These questions relate to information regarding footpaths, nearby road schemes, common land and so forth. Each question selected incurs an additional fee.
It is possible to ask additional questions not covered by the 18 pre-set questions. These are known as CON29 Part 3 questions and typically relate to planning enquiries on adjacent/nearby land or properties. Each extra question incurs an additional fee.

Our online Local Land Charges Search form comprises the LLC1, CON29R Part 1, CON29O Part 2 and CON29 Part 3 enquiries forms.

When submitting a search, please specify precisely what is to be searched, for example a shop, or a shop and flat.

You must also submit a plan which identifies the search area, clearly outlined in red, with road names. The address on the submitted forms and plan must match.

Local Land Charges Search fee schedule

Our standard Local Land Charges Search fees are as follows:

Residential search fees:

Full residential search (LLC1 and CON29R): £130 (£151 including VAT)
LLC1 Search only: £25 (VAT exempt)

Commercial/land search fees:

Full commercial search (LLC1 and CON29R) £179.17 (£210 including VAT)
LLC1 Search only: £25 (VAT exempt)

For a complete list of fees, please view our Local Land Charges Search fees schedule.

Arranging a Local Land Charges Search

You can arrange an official Local Land Charges Search by using our online Local Land Charges Search form. Please note, we no longer accept Local Land Charges Search requests by post.

Following receipt of your completed online Local Land Charges Search form request, we will email you a quote detailing the required fees and a unique reference number, with a link to make an online debit/credit card payment. Please note, we no longer take payment over the phone, nor do we accept payment by cheque.

Alternatively, you can purchase an official Local Land Charges Search via the National Land information Service (NLIS) using any of the five NLIS Channels.

Personal Search of Local Land Charges Register

We have a statutory duty to make the Local Land Charges Register available to facilitate Personal Searches.

All Local Land Charge registrations prior to 1 January 2010 are held in manual registers. All registrations made with effect from 1 January 2010 are held in electronic format. 

Only Land Charges staff can access the Local Land Charges Register and will advise you if any charges apply to the property/piece of land that you are searching against. The content of a Personal Search will be directed back to the Personal Search Agency or person who requested the search.

We only accept email bookings for Personal Searches. Please email the Local Land Charges Register team with the following information:

The full postal address to be searched
A site plan clearly showing the boundary marked in red
The name of the person or company carrying out the Personal Search

We will email you back to confirm the date the Personal Search will be undertaken.

Please note: Personal Searches are carried out on a first come, first served basis. We respectfully remind personal searchers that it is their responsibility to interpret the Local Land Charges Registers and any further enquiries should not be addressed to staff in the Local Land Charges Register team. Unlike the Local Land Charges Search process where a LLC1 form and CON29 form are completed and fees paid, there is no such requirement for a Personal Search. An Official Certificate of Search is not provided after a Personal Search.

Search turnaround times

Do you offer an expedited search service?

We do not offer a fast-track service. Searches are processed in date order received.

What is your current turnaround?

The Local Land Charges team are currently dealing with a high volume of requests due to the increase in property purchases driven by the temporarily reduced stamp duty rates.

We want to help all property purchases to proceed as smoothly as possible, so we ask that solicitors, agents and the public submit local land charges searches as early as possible. This will help our staff and avoid any delays.

We are processing searches as quickly as possible; we thank you for your patience and understanding at this busy time.

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