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Local land searches

If you are buying a house or a plot of land, it is an extremely important part of the conveyancing process to conduct a Local Authority Search.

A Local Authority Search can consist of the following:

  • The LLC1 – official certificate of Local Land Charges Register (LLCR) search
  • CON 29R – Enquiries of Local Authority
  • CON 29O – Optional Enquiries

The LLC1 – certificate search – is produced from the Local Land Charges Register.

This register is a statutory register which is maintained by all local authorities throughout England & Wales. The register consists of 12 parts which are as follows:

  • Part 1 General financial charges
  • Part 2 Specific financial charges
  • Part 3 Planning Charges
  • Part 4 Miscellaneous charges
  • Part 5 Fenland ways maintenance charges
  • Part 6 Land compensation charges
  • Part 7 New towns charges
  • Part 8 Civil aviation charges
  • Part 9 Opencast mining charges
  • Part 10 Listed building charges
  • Part 11 Light obstruction notices
  • Part 12 Drainage scheme charges

The purpose of these charges ensures prospective purchasers of property/land are not caught unaware of obligations enforceable against successive owners by the Local Authority and others

The CON29R – enquiries of local authority, Planning, Building Control, Adopted Highways and others – is a provision for prospective purchasers of property/land to find out about pending issues on the property/land other than that shown in the LLC1 – official certificate search. The CON29R is an important factor in establishing amongst other things: the status of highways, road improvement schemes, planning proposals, pending conservation areas, building regulations, enforcement and contaminated land.

The CON29O allows prospective purchasers of property/land to request additional enquiries; in particular the route of a public footpath, bridleway or byway and environmental and pollution notices.

Your solicitors will have these forms or you can buy them from law stationers.

The Local Land Charge Unit has 3 main functions:

  • To maintain a register known as the Local Land Charges Register as required by the Local Land Charges Act 1975
  • To carry out searches of the Local Land Charge register – Form LLC1
  • To respond to applications for the Local Authority Searches – Forms CON29R and CON29RO.

How to apply for a Local Authority search

To apply you need to email your 1 copy of Forms LLC1, CON29R and/or CON29O with a plan clearly indicating the search area to [email protected].

We will acknowledge receipt of your request and advise you of the search fee including any additional parcels for you to confirm agreement and undertake to pay the fee.

We will then provide you with a search reference number and details to make a BACS payment for the fee to be paid the same day.

The completed search results will be emailed to you. Local Searches are currently being returned to the submitter within six working days of receipt.

Search fees

Search fees from 1 April 2026. Where applicable, VAT is charged at the standard rate of 20%.

SearchFeePlus VATTotal
 LLC1 Certificate of Search£27.41none£27.41
Additional parcel of land LLC1£2.78none£2.78
CON29R – Enquires of Local Authority 2016£109.60£21.92£131.52
Additional parcel of land CON29R£17.80£3.64£21.36
CON29O – optional questions 4 to 22£13.70 (per question)£2.74£16.44 (based on one question)
Solicitors individual questions£27.42£5.42£32.90
Standard searchFeePlus VAT
LLC1£27.41£0
CON29R£109.60£21.92
Total£137.01£158.93
Additional parcels of landFeePlus VAT
LLC1£2.78£0
CON29R£17.80£3.56
Total£20.58£24.14

LLCR / CON29R data and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)

The LLCR and Con29R data can also be inspected and requested under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) to do this you will need to contact the relevant department in respect of the data area in question where the information is not already published.

The request would be considered on merit, as the information held may not meet the requirements of EIR or need to be redacted. (Redaction is the process of editing the information in order to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998).

Information that is available under EIR would be made available within 20 working days of the request.

The information provided by the Council in respect of the LLCR must not be interpreted in any way to consumers, estate agents, or solicitors as implying that an Official LLC1 Search has been completed.

A guidance note for making a personal inspection of the LLCR can be accessed via the related documents section below.

CON29R Data

CON29R data and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)

Con29R data can be inspected and requested under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) to do this you will need to contact the relevant department in respect of the data area in question where the information is not already published.

The request would be considered on merit, as the information held may not meet the requirements of EIR or need to be redacted. (Redaction is the process of editing the information in order to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998).

Information that is available under EIR would be made available within 20 working days of the request.

The information produced by the Council for CON29R component data requests must not be interpreted in any way to consumers, estate agents or solicitors as implying that a full or part Local Authority Search has been carried out. The information is purely an extract of our data files and is provided for interpretation by the company/person who requested it.

Details of how to find or inspect the CON29R component data is contained in the table attached. You can access specific documents and information on the website by clicking on the underlined hyper links contained in the document.

Required information

When requesting information direct from the service a plan clearly indicating the search area must be supplied. Anyone requiring personal access to information would need to discuss the requirement directly with the service in question.

Progress is continually being made to update access to information so please note that the attached table is subject to change.

Contact details

  • To apply you need to email your 1 copy of Forms LLC1, CON29R and/or CON29O with a plan clearly indicating the search area to:
    [email protected]

Related pages

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