Land Charges

Average current turnaround time is 7 days

The Local Land Charges Section may be contacted by:

Telephone: 01432 260220/0252/0997/3157
Fax: 01432 260206
Post: P.O. Box 237, Hereford, HR1 1ZY.
DX: 135297, Hereford 3
Email: landcharges@herefordshire.gov.uk

Address: Town Hall, St. Owen Street, Hereford. Herefordshire HR1 2PJ

The office opening hours are:
Monday - Thursday 8.45 a.m. - 5.15 p.m.
Friday 8.45 a.m. - 4.45 p.m.

Any comments, suggestions or complaints may be made to :
Teresa Farmer, Local Land Charge Manager - Tel. 01432 260220/0252/0997
or via email at tfarmer@herefordshire.gov.uk.

What is a Local Land Charge?

A charge that is enforceable against any subsequent owner of the land affected. An originating authority notifies Local Land Charges (LLC) when to register a "local land charge". Originating authorities include Highways Agency, English Heritage, Environment Agencies, Water Authorities, Local Authorities, etc.

Charges which are registerable as LLCs include:

• Conditions imposed in a planning decision
• Conservation areas
• Enforcement notices
• Tree preservation orders
• Various legal agreements
• Financial charges e.g. for work carried out in default
• Notices served under various Acts relating to Building, Environment, Highways, Housing, Planning and Water Authorities Searches

What is a Search?

There are several different types of searches as follows:

1. Full Local Authority Search

This consists of search of the Local Land Charge Register (LLC1) and Enquiries of the Local Authority (Con.29R).  All enquiries listed on the Con.29R are replied to by the relevant departments of the Local Authority. A fee of £119.00 is payable for this type of search.

Disclosures on the Con.29 include e.g. outstanding statutory notices under legislation relating to building works, environment, health and safety at work, housing, highways or public health. Herefordshire Council aims to return completed searches within 10 working days. This time period is not statutory but the Audit Commission recommends this as an acceptable time. The Council are currently achieving 98% of standard searches returned within 10 working days, with many being returned within 5 working days or less.

Con.29O form contains optional enquiries and will only be replied to when requested by the applicant. There are various optional questions and the fees for the individual enquiries are set out below.

Any other additional enquiries will be dealt with by the relevant Department of the Council direct.

2. Search of the Local Land Charge Register Only - (LLC1)

This is a search of the Local Land Charges Register only and as such only registerable charges will be disclosed. Any pending charges, which may be in the process of being made, will not be shown. An official certificate of search is submitted by the applicant and completed by LLC officers, a fee of £39.00 is payable for this search.

Both of the above searches are endorsed by the Council. The Con.29 form is completed by consultation with other Council departments and the replies are given by trained council staff, who have access to the correct information required. The Local Land Charges Act 1975 also makes provision for compensation should anything go wrong.

3. Personal Search

The member of the public or their representative can undertake a Personal Search and the local land charges register is made available for inspection to the person conducting the search. Please contact the Hereford Centre on 01432 260000 and ask for the Planning Desk or via email at planningdesk@herefordshire.gov.uk to make an appointment if you wish to carry out a personal search.

The Council does not provide the answers to the Con29 form as part of a personal search.

Personal searchers may obtain Con 29 information from records held by the Council and other bodies. Although any member of the public or a personal search company may carry out a personal search, the Council recommends that you carry out a full local authority search. The Council does not endorse the information obtained by way of a Personal Search and the responsibility of retrieval of the correct information rests with the personal searcher.

Con.29 information may be supplied from the Land Charges Office for a fee. 

The raw data may be inspected at the individual departments concerned - Please refer to the Con29R and Con29O forms below which show contact details. 

Code of Practice

There is a suggested Code of Practice for Personal Searches (COP) which our LLC staff follow. This contains recommendations regarding standards to be attained, obligations of the searcher (applicant) and obligations of the local authority. We adhere to the COP where possible. Copies of the COP may be obtained from the Local Land Charges office on 01432 260220 or via email at landcharges@herefordshire.gov.uk

Information to Assist you in Submitting your Search

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

• 2 Plans are required with all searches.
• Please include the correct postal address on your search.
• Please complete the Con29 form fully. Information relating to additional side, back or abutting roads will only be answered if they are specified by name or referred to and highlighted on the submitted plan.

• To assist in submitting forms LLC1, Con.20R and Con29O, downloadable forms are available at the bottom of this page.

• Searches are currently being completed and returned within 10 working days, with the average turnaround being 7 working days

Plans submitted with a search enquiry should be of an up to date extract from the Ordnance Survey, scale 1:2500, 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 for advice and fees by telephoning 01432 260220 or via email at landcharges@herefordshire.gov.uk

Please ensure your reply address is the same on both the LLC1 and Con29 forms, e.g., your DX and/or postal address. Returns will be sent to the address shown on the form.

Fees as of 1st April, 2011

Standard Local Search

• Fee for Certificate (LLC1) £39
• Con29R Enquiries £80
• Total fee for LLC1 and Con29R (i.e. standard search) £119.00
• Extra parcel of Land (with standard search LLC1 & Con 29R) £35.00

Individual CON29 enquiries:

CON29R	Fee	CON29O	Fee
1.1 (a-e)	£12.50	4	£5
1.1 (f-h)	£7.50	5	£10
1.2	£5	6	£5
2	£7.50	7	£5
3.1	£5	8	£5
3.2	£7.50	9	£5
3.3	£5	10	£7.50
3.4	£7.50	11	£5
3.5	£7.50	12	£5
3.6	£7.50	13	£5
3.7	£7.50	14	£5
3.8	£5	15	£5
3.9	£5	16	£5
3.10	£5	17	£5
3.11	£7.50	18	£5
3.12	£5	19	£7.50
3.13	£7.50	20	£7.50
		21	£5.00
		22	£25

Personal Search - no charge

A search may also be submitted electronically via the National Land Information Service (NLIS), a government initiative aimed at delivering services electronically. This service connects law firms, conveyancers and data providers to provide one stop access to all land and property related information throughout England and Wales. At Herefordshire Council we are connected to NLIS at level 2, which means a local authority search may be submitted and returned electronically.

To find out more about NLIS please contact http://www.nlis.org.uk/

Payment

Cheques should be made payable to Herefordshire Council.
For other fees relating to searches and local land charges please telephone on 01432 260220 or via email at landcharges@herefordshire.gov.uk

Our Service and what to expect:

Herefordshire Council's Local Land Charge Office aims to provide a professional service, which meets all our customers needs. We aim to:

• Provide accurate information within the shortest time possible.
• Respond to 100% of standard searches within 10 days.
• Answer any queries in a professional and courteous manner.
• Continue improving the service in order to respond to our customers needs.

Although Herefordshire Council does not operate an expediting service, we will aim to help you all we can should your search become very urgent.