Local Land Charges

West Berkshire Council has worked with HM Land Registry (HMLR) to migrate our Local Land Charges Register service to their central digital register. 

With effect from 25 April 2024

HM Land Registry will provide search results for Local Land Charges Register searches in the West Berkshire Council area.

The Con29 will continue to be produced by West Berkshire Council.

You can find more information about the Local Land Charges Programme on GOV.UK.

Local authority searches

A local authority search is part of the land and property conveyance process. A search is used to find any 'charges' that the council holds against a property or piece of land. These 'charges' would include planning decisions, Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) and listed buildings.

Mortgage lenders require a search to ensure the full facts are known about a property and that there is nothing untoward.

A local authority search is made up of three legal documents:

1. The LLC1 form, which covers the Local Land Charges register, will be answered by HM Land Registry
2. The Con29 form which has specific questions, such as 'is the property on an adopted road?', where we often need to collate answers from specialists in other council departments, will continue to be answered by West Berkshire Council
3. The separate Con29(O) form, which allows for specific extra questions and/or an 'Additional Enquiry' from the solicitor or conveyancer, will also continue to be answered by West Berkshire Council

The  Local Land Charges fees (2024) [133KB] shows the fee for the Con29 and Con29(O) forms only. Please contact HM Land Registry for LLC1 fees.

Searches must be submitted to us on appropriate forms. Solicitors will have copies of these forms, or they are available from law stationers.

How long does a local authority search take?

We estimate that any search requested will take up to five working days to complete. Your patience is appreciated during any period of high demand. We realise that all searches are urgent, and our staff work hard to make sure the requests are processed as quickly as possible.

Inspecting the register: personal searches

The Local Land Charges register can be inspected by any member of the public. This process is called a 'Personal Search'.

From 25 April 2024, all personal searches of the Local Land Charges Register should be directed to HM Land Registry.

A Personal Search is a search of the Local Land Charges register only.

If other information is required from specific departments, then please contact them directly. To assist you with this, you can find useful contact details and other websites in the 'Where to get answers to search enquiries' document [700KB] .