Local Land Charges

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 , Tree Preservation Orders (TPO) 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
    
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
   
   (Both these forms are usually submitted to us together and constitute a 'standard search', but they can be submitted individually if appropriate)
    
3. The separate 'Con29 Part II' form, which allows for specific extra questions and/or an 'Additional Enquiry' from the solicitor or conveyancer

The  Local Land Charges fees (2023) [211KB] shows the fee for each form.

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?

Due to the increase in the number of searches requested, any submission will now take longer than 10 working days. 

We estimate that any search requested will take up to  thirty working days to complete. Your patience is appreciated during a 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 January 2021, all personal searches of the Local Land Charges Register are to be requested by email to personalsearches@westberks.gov.uk. A copy of the Local Land Charges Register will then be returned to you. 

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

If other information is required from other 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] .