Land Charges

Local Searches Completed By Local People With Local Knowledge

IMPORTANT UPDATE!

On the 23rd September our Local Land Charges Register will be migrating to HM Land Registry’s national register. You will be able to access the new digital service through Portal, Business Gateway and on HM Land Registry’s GOV.UK pages. If you want to find out more details about the Local Land Charges Programme you can at the following link: Local Land Charges Programme

Castle Point Borough Council will continue to provide replies to Con29 enquiries, and we have some key important dates and processes that you need to consider:

• Please note from 23rd September we will no longer provide a search of the local land charge register or LLCI search service.  I can confirm after this date, our Local Land Charges Register will have migrated to HM Land Registry’s national register, and you will be able to access a new digital service through Portal, Business Gateway and on HM Land Registry’s GOV.UK pages: Local Land Charges
• Castle Point Borough Council can confirm there will be a 10-working day gap between our switch over date and the go live date. The last day in which we are accepting LLCI Official searches and personal searches of the registers is Tuesday 9th September, this is our Switch-over date. 

This means that any searches submitted prior to Tuesday 9th September will be returned BEFORE the Go Live date.

Searches submitted after Tuesday 9th September 2025, will be returned ON or AFTER the Go Live date Tuesday 23rd September 2025.

• The Component Data Package service will no longer be available and provided by the Local Land Charges department.
• For guidance on how you obtain environmental information and the raw data that relates to Con29 enquiries, please see a table below relating to Environmental Information. 

As part of our digital transformation, we have worked with HM Land Registry to transfer our local land charges (LLC) service to their national digital register. The LLC Register allows users to search information online instantly, enabling buying decisions to be made earlier in the conveyancing process.  Users of the national register can download a personal search free of charge or buy an official search for £15. This will allow unlimited repeat searches for six months. All information is delivered in a standard easy-to-read format, with geospatial maps.

We are pleased to be among the early adopters of the new register, and if you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Service Description

The Official Local Land Charges service maintains the Register of Local Land Charges and provides a fast and efficient Local Land Charges service which complies with statutory requirements.

 

General Information

Whenever a property or piece of land is sold, purchased, leased or re-mortgaged a Local Land Charges Search is made to find out if there are any matters affecting the property.

There are three types of search

•           LLCI: The Official Search of the Local Land Charges Register - which deals with registrable charges such as Tree Preservation Orders, Conditional Planning Consents, Improvement Grants etc. This can be obtained via HM Land Registry’s national register, and you will be able to access a new digital service through Portal, Business Gateway and on HM Land Registry’s GOV.UK pages.

•           Official Con29 Search : A n Official Con29 search, by which the Authority will receive an official application together with a location plan and the relevant fees. The LLC staff will then interrogate and interpret the registers and provide official responses to the questions. Refer to the Official Local Land Charges Search section for further details.

•           Official Con29O Search :  This official search provides a series of additional questions which can be asked if required by the purchaser. It is possible to select these questions individually according to your own requirements.

Replies given to a CON29 and CON29O search, apply only to the property which is the subject of the Search. If you require any information about adjacent properties it is possible to request this and pay an additional parcel fee at the time of the request. Consult your legal advisor before submitting your search application, or contact us.

 

How to make an application

• All search requests must include an Ordnance Survey (OS) site location at a scale of 1:1250 with the property clearly outlined in red.
• The correct fee must be enclosed. (see below)
• If you don't know the correct fee, please email us: lc@castlepoint.gov.uk 

 

Official Search of the Register of Local Land Charges only

The Local Land Charges service at Castle Point Borough Council no longer provide a search of the local land charge register or LLCI search service.  I can confirm after 23^rd September, our Local Land Charges Register will have migrated to HM Land Registry’s national register, and you will be able to access a new digital service through Portal, Business Gateway and on HM Land Registry’s GOV.UK pages: Local Land Charges

 

Copy Documents

Cancellation of Search Requests

Once a search has been accepted and registered no refund or part refund can be made.

 

Fees for Local Land Charges service

• With effect from 1st January 2017 the Con29 element of searches will be subject to standard rate VAT.

Full Fee Structure

Application	2025 & 2026	To make a payment click on the link below
CON29	£138	CON29 Official Search
Extra Parcel fee	£46	Extra Parcel Fee
CON29’O’ Questions	£52 each	CON29'O' Questions
Solicitors own Questions	£89 each	Solicitors Own Questions
Personal Search Viewing	£0	Local Land Charges
Quotation Service	£25	Please contact lc@castlepoint.gov.uk

 

What is a local land charges search

A full official local authority land charges search comprises two parts and is completed by council staff who are experts in their field and maintain the only fully authoritative database available:

•  The register of local land charges contains details of all local land charges registered against land or property that are binding on the current owner and all successive owners of the land.
• The form enquiries of local authority (known as forms CON29 'R' and 'O') supplements the register of local land charges by seeking information which is outside the scope of a land charge but relevant to an intending purchaser/mortgagee.

 

When is a search necessary

Searches and enquiries should be made on:

• every purchase and mortgage (or sale in some cases)
• on every taking or assignment of a lease
• property used as security
• on long-term rent (although not absolutely necessary).

For more information and guidance on how to buy and sell a home please refer to the links below that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published on 7^th May 2019 that provides a really helpful overview of the process and the important steps you go through when purchasing or selling a property.

How to buy a home

How to sell a home

 

What Information will a Local Authority Search tell me

The register of local land charges contains details of all local land charges registered against land or property.

In addition to the register, an integral part of the modern conveyancing process is the standard enquiry form known as CON29'R'. This enquiry is in two parts:

• CON29'R' which is a list of questions relating to highways, planning and building control matters which would have an effect on the property. These would include matters such as traffic schemes, compulsory purchase, public footpaths, building control and enforcement issues. This list is not exhaustive and there are other issues which could be revealed.
• CON29'O' are 'Optional' questions that you may wish to ask of us. In addition, you can ask any reasonable question of your own which we refer to as Part 3 Questions.
• Additional fees are payable for the 'official' completion of the CON29'O' and Part 3 questions.

The CON29'R' enquiries deal with Town Planning, Drainage, Highways, Environmental Health and Building Regulations:

• Planning is the most comprehensive section dealing with Forward Planning which sets out rules on development control. What can and cannot be built and to what standards.
• History of planning applications since 1st January 1990.
• Enforcement Proceedings which may be served on the land or property as well as whether the property has permitted development rights removed for minor development, for example, fences, gates and porches (Article 4 Direction Orders), Tree Preservation Orders, Conservation Areas, neglected Listed Buildings which have been served with a repairs or preservation notice and whether the council has cancelled a valid grant of planning permission.
• Replies to the Drainage enquiries are now limited to Agreements for building over public sewers or sewer easements - restrictions on development near trunk sewers.
• Highway matters deal with whether the roadways including the footways are maintainable at public expense, meaning whether the council is responsible for the cost of maintenance or whether the roadways and footways are private and if the cost of maintenance lies with the property owners.
• Highway schemes. Major highway schemes include new roads, property acquisition and road improvements such as widening, construction projects such as underpasses, subways and flyovers for example.
• Searches will now include information on traffic management schemes. Examples include schemes such as traffic calming, one way driving, waiting/loading restrictions, road closures to through traffic, proposed residents parking zones, cycle routes as well as other traffic management proposals.
• Environmental Health deal with public health notices that have been served on land or property such as unfit housing and blight notices. Information regarding any grants will also be revealed.
• Building Regulations deal with constructional details of buildings which set down minimum building standards and action against unauthorised building work that is unsafe. Searches include details of Building Regulation applications submitted from 1996.

Also covered in the standard search enquiry are matters relating to compulsory purchase, construction of new railways and properties affected by radon gas.

CON29'O' enquiries are optional and additional fees are payable for each question asked. Categories of question include:

• Public Rights of Way.
•  Strategic Planning, for example Enterprise Zones.
• Environmental Notices.
• Food Safety and hygiene standards.
• Radon Gas precautions and measures.
• Advertisement Restrictions and Register of Advertisement applications.

Part 3 is any reasonable question of your own that we can answer.

 

What we won't tell you

Anything that is outside the boundary of the property being searched. This includes items such as planning and building regulation applications on adjoining properties or parcels of land adjacent to the property being searched and major developments within the neighbourhood. We can respond to these matters as a Part 3 Enquiry for which an additional fee is payable.

 

Who can apply for a Search

Anyone can apply. You can make the application yourself or through your Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer.

You will need an LLC1 and CON29 'R' and 'O' form - which are available to buy from legal stationers. In addition you must also provide with your application an OS site location plan showing the boundary of your property outlined in red at a scale of no less than 1:1250. These can be obtained from many websites such as the ‘Ordnance Survey’ official site.

 

Making an Application

Members of the public and other agents are able to apply for an Official Con29 & Con29O. Please email your request to LC@castlepoint.gov.uk including the Official forms with an OS extract plan of a scale of 1:1250 with the property clearly outlined in red. The service will email you a copy of the search results for that location / address.

The results will be returned, by email, within five working days of receipt and validation.

Information which is provided on the Council's website will not be provided through the Property Information Service. Where records such as planning files, are available for public inspection and also held on the website either method of access can be used to obtain the information requested. Information that is available from an external organisation or public utility, such as the Water Utilities, will not be provided as part of the Property Information Request.

 

Environmental Information

The majority of the information relating to the Con29 enquiries is available by self-serve via the Councils Website or making a direct enquiry to the relevant department. It will require the individual to gather, interpret and verify this data themselves in order to answer the Con29 enquiries correctly. Please see a table below for guidance on where to obtain this information.

Please be aware the Environmental information is the raw data set, this information is subject to change as developments and entries and applications are ongoing. Therefore, the information declared is representative and not definitive and is current record up to and including the time and date the raw data is viewed.

These datasets are intended as a guide only and should not be relied upon for planning purposes or legal decisions and is provided pursuant to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. It is not a definitive statement from Castle Point Borough Council. The responsibility for the interpretation and verification of the information is with yourself as this is the raw data and Castle Point Borough Council will accept no liability for any such reliance.

 

 

CON29R Question Number	Source of data
1.1 (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i)	Self-Serve at www.castlepoint.gov.uk
1.1 (j,k,l)	This information is not held on a public forum or register and therefore you can request an official Local Land Charge search, or the other option is to seek the information directly from the department. Please be aware information can be obtained by request at eir@castlepoint.gov.uk
1.2	These can be obtained via the Castle Point Borough Local Plan and this can be obtained via self-serve at www.castlepoint.gov.uk
2.1	These can be obtained via the Castle Point Borough Local Plan and this can be obtained via self-serve at www.castlepoint.gov.uk
2.2 - 2.5	Refer to Essex County Council Public Rights of way webpage: Public Rights of Way
3.1	Refer to Essex Highways
3.2	Refer to Essex Highways
3.3	Relevant planning applications can be viewed via self-serve at our website www.castlepoint.gov.uk and Essex County Council has a record of flood assets which can be viewed at: Floods Essex and/or Essex Flood and Water Management
3.4	Refer to Essex Highways
3.5	Refer to Essex Highways and also contact the relevant Rail Network Company for that area.
3.6	Refer to Essex Highways
3.7	These are not held on a public register and therefore you can request an official Local Land Charge search, or the other option is to seek the information directly from the department.
3.8	This information is not held on a public forum or register and therefore you can request an official Local Land Charge search, or the other option is to seek the information directly from the department. Please be aware information can be obtained by request at BuildingControl@castlepoint.gov.uk and there will be a fee that is calculated on a cost recovery basis in accordance with the ICO (Charging for Environmental Information) Regulations:  Regulation 8(1) permits a public authority to charge for supplying environmental information. However, Regulations 8(3) states any charge cannot “exceed an amount which the public authority is satisfied is a reasonable amount”.
3.9	This information is not held on a public forum or register and therefore you can request an official Local Land Charge search, or the other option is to seek the information directly from the departments. Please be aware information can be obtained by request at PlanningEnforcement@castlepoint.gov.uk and there will be a fee that is calculated on a cost recovery basis in accordance with the ICO (Charging for Environmental Information) Regulations:  Regulation 8(1) permits a public authority to charge for supplying environmental information. However, Regulations 8(3) states any charge cannot “exceed an amount which the public authority is satisfied is a reasonable amount”.
3.10	Self-serve: www.castlepoint.gov.uk
3.11	Self-serve: www.castlepoint.gov.uk
3.12	You can request an official Local Land Charge search, or the other option is to seek the information directly from the department. Please be aware information can be obtained via the website Castle Point Planning and there will be a fee that is calculated on a cost recovery basis in accordance with the ICO (Charging for Environmental Information) Regulations:  Regulation 8(1) permits a public authority to charge for supplying environmental information. However, Regulations 8(3) states any charge cannot “exceed an amount which the public authority is satisfied is a reasonable amount”.
3.13	This information is not held on a public forum or register and therefore you can request an official Local Land Charge search, or the other option is to seek the information directly from the department - please refer to website link for details Contaminated Land
3.14	Radon Gas - refer to the environmental health and Health Protection Agency for details.