What is a Local Land Charge?

A Local Land Charge is a restriction on properties/land to secure the payment of a sum of money, or limit the use to which the land may be put, and is binding upon successive owners, e.g. a payment to be made for works carried out in default of a notice; a listed building or a condition in a planning permission. Such 'charges' are recorded in the Local Land Charges Register. A search of that register discloses any matters, which have been registered as Local Land Charges and together with the Enquiries of Local Authorities, provide vital information to prospective purchasers to make an informed decision when buying a property.

What is a Search?

An integral part of the conveyancing process is a search of the Local Land Charges Register and the answering of enquiries on form Con29. A search can either be carried out by the submission of two forms to the relevant Local Authority, namely the LLC1 which is the Register of Local Land Charges Requisition for Search and Official Certificate of Search and the Con29, which provide the standard Enquiries of Local Authorities, or by way of a Personal Search where any person, by appointment, can carry out a search of the Local Land Charges Register and arrange for access to all the data held by the Local Authority in order to answer the enquiries on form Con29.

Form Con29O provides additional optional enquiries, which may be asked if a response would be in the interest of a prospective purchaser.