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A Local Land Charge Search should be carried out when a property or piece of land is being purchased, leased or valued to find out if there are any matters affecting the land.
The search is in two parts. The first part the LLC1, deals with all registerable charges, such as grants tree preservation orders, planning agreements, listed buildings and so on. The second part, the CON 29 deals with issues such as road schemes, planning history and environmental matters.
Drainage enquiries are dealt with by:
Southern Water
Land Search Team
Southern House
Capstone Road
Chatham
Kent
ME5 7QA
The information given on a search relates only to the property or land identified on the search plan. The Council does not provide information regarding surrounding property or land unless this is specifically requested.
The Council's target for responding to basic searches is 10 working days from the date of acceptance of a correctly completed request.
However generally the service is much quicker than this and averages at around 5-7 working days.
The Land Charges team at the Council prides itself on it's services that are produced with many years of experience and understanding of the information required.
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Hastings Borough Council are able to administer electronic searches through the National Land Information Service Hub (NLIS) and are currently at Level 3 which means that we can receive and return electronic searches.
If you wish to use this service, you will need to make arrangements with an NLIS Licenced Channel Provider for the submission of your searches.
To find out more about this service and the current Licenced Channel Providers visit www.nlis.org.uk.
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When submitting a 'Local Land Charge Requisition for Search' you should include forms LLC1 and CON 29 in duplicate (these forms are obtainable from Solicitors or Law Stationers). Two up-to-date plans showing the area to be searched outlined in red should be submitted. You should also send the relevant payment.
Are enquiries that the Council must answer.
You should clearly mark in the relevant box if you want answers to these enquiries. Remember, also to include the necessary fee for each enquiry.
These should be clearly typed on an additional sheet of paper and attached to the original search. Questions must be clear. The Council cannot answer enquiries such as 'in the vicinity' or 'likely to affect the enjoyment' because they are too vague. Remember to include the necessary fee for each enquiry.
These roads and so on must be clearly identified in Box C and marked on the plan. The Council will not accept phrases such as 'all abutting'.
We can accept payments:
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A Personal Search is an inspection of the Local Land Charges Register. It can be carried out by anyone upon payment of the fee. Please note that a Personal Search does not provide all the information given on a full (LLC1 and Con 29) search.
The fee for a Personal Search is £11.
The card based Local Land Charges Register is available at Century House to persons wishing to carry out a Personal Search at the following times:
Monday to Friday: 9.00am to 12.30pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm
To make an appointment, please contact the Land Charges Team
You will be expected to provide the address of the property you wish to search and may be asked to provide a plan. It may be helpful for you to look at the Council Tax and Business Rates lists at www.voa.gov.uk before booking your search especially in respect of flats and businesses. This may prevent further clarification being sought and will ensure that the correct information is made available to you.
It is the responsibility of the person carrying out the Personal Search to identify the land/property and to make any note of information held on the Register. The Council does not have an obligation to answer any supplementary enquiries when a person is carrying out a Personal Search.
Details of how to obtain the information to answer each CON29 are listed on our Personal Search - CON29 Guidance page. Specific departmental requirements and office locations are listed below.
You can gain access to this information in one of two ways:
1. Request an appointment with the Land Charges team to undertake an Enhanced Personal Search. Departments that hold relevant Public Registers will be notified of your visit. This way information can be prepared and hopefully speed up your visit to our offices. Planning property files will be provided as part of this service. This service is available at the following times:
Monday: 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Tuesday: 9.00am to 12.30pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Wednesday: 9.00am to 12.30pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Thursday: 9.00am to 12.30pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm
To make an appointment, please contact the Land Charges Team.
You will be expected to provide the address of the property you wish to search and may be asked to provide a plan. It may be helpful for you to look at the Council Tax and Business Rates lists at www.voa.gov.uk before booking your search especially in respect of flats and businesses. This may prevent further clarification being sought and will ensure that the correct information is made available to you.
2. Make direct appointments to visit the relevant departments yourself. It is advised that you contact the department 48 hours before your visit so that the appropriate files can be retrieved and made available to you. We are working towards electronic storage of all data but in the meantime there are many sources of information which are stored in paper archives, often in separate buildings to the ones in which we work.
You can gain this information by contacting the relevant departments directly as detailed later in this guidance note. This information will not be made available through the Enhanced Personal Search Service.
Access to all public registers is free but should you require research assistance or have enquiries that relate to information not held on a public register then a fee of £20 per property for the first half hour spent plus £20 for each subsequent half hour will be charged by each department. This fee will be charged by all departments listed above.
We will accept payments for services electronically using credit or debit cards either in person at our reception or by telephone. Please note that there will be a 2% surcharge for all credit card transactions over £100.
We have tried to make our processes as clear and simple as possible, however we will review them regularly. Should you have any comments, suggestions or complaints please contact the Land Charges Team.
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(Note: For all HIP searches completed on or after 1st August 2007, this price includes one free search refresh if requested by the original applicant within six months of the original search completion date.)
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Please contact us for further advice or information on any matter related to Land Charges.
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This page last updated: 11/04/2008