Property searches

• Land and property searches
• Property searches

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1. Property Searches

If you are planning to buy a house or plot of land, or lease a property, you will need to know whether the authority will charge you for any outstanding or ongoing services.  The search will provide you with important information so that you are aware of any charges or responsibilities you will be taking on when you exchange contracts.

The word charge means any outstanding financial claim, restriction, decision or information which may affect a particular property or parcel of land.  These include charges for such services as roads, restrictions such as tree preservation orders and conditions imposed on planning permissions, conservation areas, legal agreements and listed buildings.

The local land search also provides other important information, for example if the property has been improved with the help of a local authority grant, which would affect your reselling or renting out the property.

The local land search is in two parts.

There are two standard forms for an official search.  Either your solicitor will fill in these forms or you can get them from a legal stationer, or you can order the search through our ‘Easysearch’ form on our website.

NEW PRICES FROM 1ST NOVEMBER 2010 –
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES ONLY £75

LLC1  Requisition for search and Official Certificate of Search
relates to all the registerable charges e.g. financial charges which could arise from improvement/renovation grants, tree preservation orders, conservation orders, smoke control and planning applications which have been approved with conditions as from 1st August 1977.

CON29(R)  Required Enquiries of the Local Authority (2007 Edition)
Enquiries 1 – 3 deal with enquiries relating to planning, highways and environmental services which may affect the property or land.  We will reply to this for one inclusive fee based on cost-recovery only, in accordance with legislation.

CON29(O)  Optional Enquiries of the Local Authority (2007 Edition)
Enquiries 4 – 22 are charged for individually and we will only reply if the purchaser or the legal practitioner places a tick in the appropriate box on the front of the form.

Fee schedule 

2. Local Land Charges

A charge that is enforceable against any subsequent owner of the land affected.   An originating authority notifies us when to register a “local land charge”.  Originating authorities include Highways Agency, English Heritage, Environmental Agencies, Water Authorities, Local Authorities, etc.

Information to assist you in submitting your search

The following instructions may assist you when submitting local searches and will aid completion of your search:

• Location plans in duplicate are required with all searches.
• Please include the correct postal address and postcode on your search.
• Please complete the CON29R/CON29O Easysearch form fully. Information relating to additional side, back or abutting roads will only be answered if they are specified by name in Box C or referred to and highlighted on the submitted plan.  If asking an additional enquiry, please be specific (e.g. ‘landfill site within 250 metres’) as it is not possible for an answer to be given to vague enquiries.
• 100% of searches are currently being completed and returned in 6 working days, with the average turnaround time being 3 to 4 working days.
• Plans submitted with a search enquiry should be an up to date extract from the Ordnance Survey, scale 1/1250, with the area to be searched outlined in red.
• Your search reply will be for the area outlined in red only and will not include abutting properties/land.  If you wish to know what is happening on an abutting property or other areas, please contact the Local Land Charges Section.
• Please ensure the reply address is the same on both the LLC1 and CON29 forms, e.g. your DX and/or postal address.  Returns are usually sent to the address shown on the LLC1 form.
• If you want the search result emailed to you, let us know.

Forms CON29R and CON29O are available under licence from the Law Society in paper and electronic format from legal stationers such as: Oyez Straker, Laserform, Peapod, LexisNexis and Shaw & Sons.

For further information please contact us using the following details.

Contact details

Landcharges Officer
South Derbyshire District Council
Civic Offices
Civic Way
Swadlincote
Derbyshire
DE11 0AH

DX 23912
Swadlincote

Tel: 01283 595851
Fax: 01283 228734
Online: contact form
email: land.charges@south-derbys.gov.uk

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