A Local Land Charges Search is required to inform a purchaser of the existence of obligations or 'charges', enforceable against successive owners by local authorities, or central government.
A 'charge' describes a burden imposed on land with which successive owners or occupiers of land and/or property must comply. The charges detailed on the Local Land Charges Register would not normally be disclosed by looking at the title deeds or inspecting the land or property itself. Local Land Charges may be of financial or non-financial nature.
This service is not to be confused with the District Land Registry. If your enquiry relates to ownership of land you should direct yourself to the Peterborough District Land Registry at the address shown below.
The Local Land Charges Register consists of twelve parts. The following are examples of the types of information or 'charges' that might be found on the Local Land Charges Register:
Financial Charges: detailing amounts of money that are due to the Local Authority, usually these amounts have been incurred as a result of works carried out by the Council in default.
Conservation Areas: These areas have been designated by the authority as areas containing special architectural or historic interest. Obviously it is desirable to preserve or enhance these areas.
This designation gives additional controls over new buildings or demolition works. The Conservation Area designation also helps to protect trees. Therefore before carrying out any works to trees within a Conservation Area contact the Planning Office for advice.
Smoke Control Orders Only certain approved types of fuel can be used in Smoke Control Areas e.g. smokeless coal.
In addition to the registrable items revealed on the Local Land Charges Register a potential purchaser will also wish to know of any notices about to be served on the property which will become binding upon any new purchaser upon completion.
To cover these important but non-registrable items the questionnaire form CON29R is available.
On 1 August 2007 the new CON29R( 2007 edition) was introduced. The CON29R comprises Required and Optional parts and customers can now submit Optional enquiries individually, if required. Each part is a stand alone product that can be ordered seperately.
There will be an administration fee of £15.00 if one or more Optional enquiries are individually raised
As from 1 October 2007, form CR21 has been revoked. For Information relating to Common Land, please submit CON29O - Optional Enquiry 22.
This information is not held or maintained by this Authority. Your enquiry will be referred to Essex County Council who will reply to you direct. The fee for this Enquiry is £14.00.
Additional Enquiries Should be clearly typed on an additional sheet of paper and attached to the original search. Questions must be clear. The Council cannot answer enquiries such as 'in the vicinity' or 'likely to affect the enjoyment' because they are too vague. Remember to include the necessary fee for each enquiry.
Information about other roads, footpaths and so on (Box C) These roads and so on must be clearly identified in Box C and marked on the plan.
When submitting a 'Local Land Charges Requisition for Search' you should include forms LLC1 and CON29 in duplicate (these forms are obtainable from Solicitors or Law Stationers). You should also send a cheque made payable to 'Epping Forest District Council' for the correct fee. If you have a plan of the premises send us two copies outlining the relevant area clearly in red. We do not usually require them for numbered residential premises - but we will always need two plans in the case of land, sub-divided premises, named premises or industrial sites with the area outlined as described above.
Local Land Charges have recently carried out a review of the current Personal Search arrangements in accordance with the new Good Practice Guidance issued in January 2008. In order to provide a fair and reasonable service to all personal search companies. As from Monday 10 March 2008 there will be some changes to our existing arrangements and the following will now apply;
Local Land Charges will continue to undertake a total of sixteen (16) Personal Searches each morning and offer appointments to view the Local Land Charges Register only at the following times: 9.30am, 10.00am, 10.30am, 11.00am and 11.30am Monday to Friday.
The appointments will be limited to a maximum of five (5) searches per company per day. Please note that appointments will only be issued up to three (3) days in advance.
Appointments MUST be booked with Local Land Charges by telephone giving at least 24 hours notice and will be offered on a "first come, first served" basis. A plan edged red clearly showing the exact search area must be emailed to contactllc@eppingforestdc.gov.uk directly after booking the Search. Failure to provide a plan may result in the appointment being cancelled
The Personal Search will only be carried out on the area shown edged red on the plan regardless of the address given at the time of booking.
Local Land Charges must be notified as soon as possible if an appointment cannot be kept. If an agent arrives late without prior notice, we reserve the right to cancel the appointment
A copy of any relevant Local Land Charge registrations affecting the search address will be shown to the agent whose responsibility it is to make a note of this information.
Please Note: We will no longer be providing copies of the LLC registration sheets, therefore, in line with the Statutory requirements our Personal Search fee will be £11.00. If copies of the registration sheets are required, they may be obtained by submitting an LLC1 form together with the fee of £23.50.
Information held on Public Registers may be viewed during normal office hours, subject to staff availability from the relevant departments within Epping Forest District Council.
As from 3 December 2007 the responsibility for responding to the Highways enquiries for the Epping Forest district transferred from Essex County Council, West Area Offices at Harlow to The Mouchel Group, Victoria House, 105-107 Victoria Road Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1JR.
Highway information for Personal Searches will only be available by making an appointment with Mouchel direct. For further information, please contact The Mouchel Group - Highway Records on 01245 247000.
With regard to drainage enquiries, please refer to Thames Water direct.
Whilst we are awaiting the outcome of the Government consultation document "Charges for Property Search Services" regarding access to information and charging guidance, open access to any unrefined information necessary to complete a full Local Land Charge Search is still unavailable.A Personal Search does not provide all the information given on a full Search. Currently Building Regulation information and Traffic Schemes are not public records. If this information is required, please contact the relevant relevant Direcotate. A fee may be payable for the provision of this information
The Council does not have an obligation to answer any supplementary or additional enquiries when a person is making a Personal Search. If any further information is required, then the official Search forms may be submitted, together with plans and the correct fees. The search will then be carried out in the normal way.A Personal Search may not be acceptable to some mortgagees.
The Local Land Charges Section operates in accordance with the "Good Practice Guidance for Local Authorities and Personal Searchers" issued in January 2008 until further notice.
if you have any comments on the service provided by Local Land Charges or require any further information please email contactllc@eppingforestdc.gov.uk
Essex Online is supported by Epping Forest District Council