Local authority searches and local land charges

Charges are legal restrictions on a property or land where the council or central government can demand payment from successive owners or occupiers. Charges include:

• planning permissions and restrictions
• tree preservation orders, conservation areas and listed building entries
• highway rights and proposals
• development proposals for the property, environmental health notices, and building control matters
• enforcement notices or financial charges, such as money owing to the council as a result of work it has carried out.

All charges are collated into one local register – the local land charges register. Portsmouth City Council’s local land charges register covers all properties and land within the city boundary. It is held electronically, and is maintained and updated by the council’s local land charges department.

Portsmouth City Council’s local land charges department deals with thousands of local authority search enquiries every year – mostly from solicitors acting on behalf of buyers –  investigating whether any legal restrictions or future development proposals affect a particular property or piece of land.

A local authority search lets you know any charges or responsibilities you will be taking on with a particular property or piece of land. An example might be a footpath, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the landowners or leaseholders, not the council. A search can inform you of any planning applications that may affect the property in the future, such as new roads being proposed close to your property.

A local authority search is usually required by your bank or building society as a condition of securing a mortgage.

The basic local authority search comprises the official certificate of search (also known as LLC1) and a CON29 enquiries form:

• LLC1 reveals all entries listed in the local land charges register
• CON29is a series of nationally agreed questions, including many ‘warning’ questions, the answers to which are not in any of the statutory registers. To find the answers, the council searches other local government records, such as planning, the environment and rights of way.

The CON29 enquiry form provides information not only on what is already in existence, but also developments in the pipeline, being considered or awaiting approval.

This form has a number of optional enquiries that your solicitor or conveyancer may specifically request (and for which an additional fee is payable), for example any planning proposals for adjacent land or property, such as a new housing development on the field behind.

Here are some of the questions you could choose to have answered on a CON29O form:

• is there a pipeline within 100 metres?
• is the property affected by any hazardous substances?
• is it in an area of outstanding natural beauty/in a noise abatement zone/in an urban development area?

The Land Registry has more information on different types of searches.

The average response time for all Portsmouth City Council search requests is 15 working days, but we will return them sooner if possible.

If you contact us for an update on your search, please note that we are only able to discuss the details with the client or person who submitted them. This is often a solicitor on behalf of the buyer.

Council fees for local authority search services are:

If you require a copy of a document revealed in a search reply, please apply directly to the inspection address given.

Portsmouth City Council land charges department is connected to the National Land Information Service at level 3, which means we can receive and return searches totally electronically.

If you complete our online form, we will return the search results to you as a PDF file. You can pay by cheque or card in advance or by monthly account. To pay by card, please call the payment line 023 9284 1622. To set up a monthly account, please contact us for an application form.

You can phone 023 9283 4063 or 023 9283 4065 for details of how to make a personal search of the local land charges register yourself. The register is available between 9.30am and 4pm. There is no charge for this service.

Gov.uk has more information on personal searches.

No, drainage enquiries are dealt with by Southern Water. Email their helpdesk searches@southernwater.co.uk or phone 0845 270 0212 8am to 5pm.

This is dealt with by HM Land Registry. Their telephone number is 0300 006 0411

Also referred to as a ‘commons registration search’, a common land search shows whether a piece of land or property is registered as common in the official registers kept by Portsmouth City Council. Common land searches are an optional question on the CON290.

Complete the online form to submit your local land charge search.

Privacy Notice: Local Land Charges Register

Portsmouth City Council is a registered Data Controller (Registration Number Z5578313)

Portsmouth City Council tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information in accordance with data protection law.

This privacy notice tells you about how Portsmouth City Council collects and uses personal information. It applies to information we collect about:

Land Charges

What information do we collect?

We collect Land Charges information from internal departments to use to maintain our Land Charges Register which is a statutory requirement.

We process the following types of information:

Details for Community Infrastructure Levy, Grants including Disabled Facilities Grants, Works In Default, Planning Applications and Planning Agreements.

Why do we collect your information?

Portsmouth City Council uses personal information to carry out its statutory function regarding Land Charges.

How we use your information:

Portsmouth City Council uses personal information to update and maintain the Land Charges Register.  The types of information above are passed to the Land Charges Team to add to the Land Charges Register once they are processed from within their own Department.

How do we keep personal information secure?

The information is kept securely on the Land Charges Register which is controlled by Portsmouth City Council.  Access to edit the Register is limited to Land Charges staff who are trained prior to access.

How long do we keep hold of personal information?

Information is kept on the Register as long as it remains current concerning the Property.  When charges are no longer current, they are removed from the Register.

Access to personal information:

Requests for information may be made via the FOI Team and Data Protection Officer.

Access to CCTV images:

Not applicable.

Sharing or disclosing personal information:

Portsmouth City Council has entered into agreement with H M Land Registry to transfer responsibility for Land Charges (Statutory searches) from local government to H M Land Registry. This is in accordance with the Infrastructure Act 2015.  As of 28 April 2022 (Statutory search) Local Land Charge searches will be provided by HMLR with the data provided by Portsmouth City Council.

Register will be provided via a secure server transfer to H M Land Registry.

Complaints or queries

If you have a complaint or query, in the first instance please email the Land Charges inbox Land.Charges@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

If you require independent advice about data protection/privacy/information sharing please contact:

Information Commissioner’s Office,

Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (if you prefer to use a national rate number).

Changes to this privacy notice

There have been no previous editions of this privacy notice.

How to contact us

If you want to request details of our privacy policy and how we collect and use personal information, you can contact: DataProtection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk