Property Searches - Information Commissioners Office Statement - Leeds City Council Response
With reference to the recent Information Commissioner Guidance please see the document attached opposite to view our response.
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 on-going 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.
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. There is a link at the foot of this page to the register of commons and town or village greens. You or your solicitor need to send us two copies of each form to our office with the fees.
N.B. If you submit a Con29(O) form on its own i.e. without a Con29(R) or LLC form, an administration fee of £6.00 is payable in addition to the normal enquiry fee.
New downloadable search request form
To make it easier to submit searches direct and reduce paperwork, Leeds Local land Charges has created a Leeds City Council search request form. This is a shortened version of the LLC1 and Con29 that contains all the information we require to process a search. The form and guidance in pdf format can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page.
Please do not send an additional copy through the post when submitting the form by email or by fax e.g. with the cheque for payment.
Full details on our search fees are accessible from the link at the foot of this page. If you would like more information please contact us using the contact details on the top right hand side of this page.
Home Information Pack
or HIP
Since 14 December 2007 every home put on the market, no matter what size, must have a Home Information Pack.
Please note that the only part of the HIP provided by this section is the local search. The necessary documents and fees required for HIP related searches are the same as for non-HIP searches.
Further information on the HIP is obtainable from your solicitor, conveyancer, HIP provider or estate agent.
Where to send a local search request
By post or hand
Local Land Charges
Leeds City Council
Room G13 West, Civic Hall
Leeds
LS1 1UR
email locallandcharges@leeds.gov.uk
DX Number
Local Land Charges
Leeds City Council
DX 715295 LEEDS 33
fax 0113 224 3279
Land Data Local Land Charges Awards
Licensing conveyancers and HIP providers may nominate a local land charges service for this award - please see the information and nomination form attachments on the right. The closing date for nominations is 30 October 2009.