Planning - Local Authority Searches
When you buy a house your solicitor will make a search of the Councils records to ensure that there are no 'hidden surprises', such as financial charges, unauthorised building work or outstanding notices requiring you to take action to remedy an earlier wrong doing, for example, installation of the wrong types of windows on a Listed Building.
The Local Land Charges Section carries out all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975 guaranteeing replies to the official LLC1 and CON29 enquiries thus ensuring that any 'hidden surprises' are detected.
Your solicitor will have to pay fees to the Council for the searches carried out, and they will then be charged back to you.
Searches can also be submitted online via the NLIS (National Land Information Service) hub. Payment can be made by cheque or by debit/credit card.
Fees for these services are:
LLC1 and CON 29 (standard search) £82LLC1 (search of Land Charges register only) £6Additional Part 11 enquiries (optional) £10Additional Solicitors questions £10Extra parcels of land £11.50Where a property is also within the Peak Park an additional £17 is required.
What does the search include?
- LLC1
The first part, the 'LLC1 (Requisition for Search & Official Certificate of Search)', deals with all registerable charges for example, financial charges registered against the property by the local authority eg improvement grants, tree preservation orders, conditional planning consents.
- CON29
The second part is called 'CON29 (Enquiries of Local Authorities)' and deals with issues such as road schemes, the planning history of the property and various other notices that may affect the property. The CON29 questionnaire also contains answers to many 'Warning' questions the answers to which cannot be found in the statutory registers.
Examples of information that can only be found by submitting a CON29 form are given below:
- Compulsory Purchase Orders
- Proposed Tree Preservation Orders
- Many informal notices under planning and highways laws not found on any register
- Road proposals or schemes (including road widening)
- Proposed enforcement action or breach of conditions notices.
Council is unable to tell you who owns of a particular building or piece of land. You may be able to find this information by carrying out a Land Registry search. Land Registry Information
Personal Searches
Any person may make a personal search of the Local Land Charges Register upon payment of the prescribed fee, currently £11. The Council will require the name of the person or company carrying out the personal search and the address of the property against which the personal search is to be made. In some cases a plan may be required.
Please note:
It is your responsibility to identify and request sight of any applicable entries in the Land Charge Register. Details of conditional planning permissions issued 1 August 1977 are not held on the Land Charges Register, but may be inspected at the Planning Department as part of a personal search. Other statutory public registers are open for inspection during reasonable office hours. These do not form part of the personal search and an appointment may be necessary. A charge may be levied for additional information. A Land Charges Officer will not be available to assist, therefore a basic knowledge of the personal search system (see link North East Derbyshire FAQs for guidance) and of the Land Charges Register is required.
Only the basic information that is required to be contained in these registers is open for inspection. The CON29 enquiries questionnaire, which forms part of the official search, contains many 'warning' questions, the answers to which you will not find on any of the statutory registers.
If you rely on a personal search from a solicitor or personal search company, may we remind you that they are not given, or entitled to receive, answers to the questions on the CON29, and any information they do obtain is not covered by Section 10(3) of the Local Land Charges Act 1975 which relates to compensation for loss. The only way to receive this information is to submit the official LLC1 and CON29 forms.
We aim to return all official searches within 8 working days and in any case within 10 working days to comply with best value performance indicators. If your search is required as a matter of urgency then a phone call is all that is required and we endeavour to return your search according to your requirements.
The Department for Communities and Local Government provides further Guidance on Personal Searches.
Further Information:
- Derbyshire County Council - We are responsible for all adopted publicly maintainable highways in Derbyshire (with the exception of the City of Derby, trunk roads and motorways) and hold information about the status of these highways. Any queries relating to the status or extent of the highway and the location of any proposed traffic or road schemes may be requested through a Personal Search Enquiry.
- Yorkshire Water (Safe Move) - Using Safe-Move for search services assures a quick turnaround of results. Searches are reasonably priced and offer excellent value for money.
- Severn Trent Water - Severn Trent Water not only works to protect the environment, but also to promote enjoyment of the resources they are responsible for. That means maintaining over 1,200 km of footpaths and Rights of Way, planting well over a million trees since 1989, and making access easier to recreational sites which receive over four million visits a year.
- Coal Authority - Providing public access to information on past and present coal mining operations
- Environment Agency - We deal with individual members of the public, community groups, industry, farmers, businesses of all sizes and the Government. Our aim is to live up to the highest possible standards in our dealings with all our customers.
- Peak District National Park Authority - The Peak District National Park Authority works with local people, businesses and organisations to make sure the Peak District can be enjoyed today in ways that look after it for the benefit of future generations.
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