A local land charge is a liability or burden imposed on land, which is binding on successive owners. A land search is important because it will tell you about possible restrictions or issues affecting your home or property.
A local land charge search is required every time a property or piece of land is purchased, leased or an evaluation is carried out. Our customer service agents carry out all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975, guaranteeing comprehensive replies to the official LLC1 and CON29 enquiries. When carrying out a search, other statutory public bodies may also be consulted, including Surrey County Council's Highways Department.
What is an official search?
A search is made up of two parts:
The LLC1 Form - The LLC1 form is a search of the Local Land Charges Register only and deals with all the registerable charges. For example: financial charges (registered against the property by the local authority), improvement grants, tree preservation orders, conditional planning consents and agreements and buildings of special architectural and historical interest.
The CON29 Form - The second part consists of the CON29R and the CON29O form. The CON29R form contains a series of standard questions and deals with issues such as road schemes, the planning history of the property and various notices which affect the property. In addition, the CON29O form consists of optional enquiries that may also be requested for an additional fee. Purchasers can also request information from the Council that is not covered by the standard or optional questions.
How to request a search
Searches can be requested online, by post or via DX post (DX30713).
Please ensure the following is included when submitting searches to be processed:
- The correct fee
- A correct and clear address of the property
- A scaled, up-to-date site plan showing the boundaries of the property or land, clearly marked in red (not essential if the search is against a single residential address).
Please note if requesting a Personal Search online along with Component Data, any CON29R questions relating to Surrey Highways will need to be requested directly from Surrey County Council.
Fees for official searches
Searches will usually be processed and returned within 15 working days. Copies of planning decision notices and building control completion certificates issued within the last ten years are included with completed searches where available to give as complete a history of the property as possible. Fees and Chargers for 2024/25 can be found below.
IMPLEMENTATION OF VAT ON CON29
As you may be aware, HMRC have confirmed their decision that VAT is now payable on all income derived from the Con29 and Con29O products. Councils are responsible for implementing this change by 31st March 2017.
Please be advised that Epsom & Ewell Borough Council’s implementation date for applying VAT to the Con29 product will be 1st March 2017. VAT will be levied at the rate of 20% and a VAT receipt will be provided for each search where appropriate.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any query regarding the above and our Land Charges Team will be happy to assist.
