Local land charges: Official property searches

We carry out all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975, guaranteeing comprehensive replies to official LLC 1 and CON 29R enquires.

In most cases your solicitor will ask us to do the search.

The search options available are:

register only searches – a search of the local land charges register only
a full official search (LLC1 and CON 29R) - a comprehensive search where information is gathered from other council departments to form a local authority search
an online search request via the NLIS (National Land Information Service).

Covid-19 update regarding our services

Due to the rapidly changing Covid-19 situation, there has been an immediate effect on some of our services. The council has put in place contingency plans and where a service is affected, we are establishing alternative ways of continuing to provide the service.

Due to current Government Guidance restricting non-essential contact with others, the majority of our staff will be working from home. Please be aware that the typical 10 working day timeline to complete a search may be subject to change. Current turnaround times are approximately 12 - 14 working days.

If you do not already use a portal to submit a request for searches please submit your applications via email to landcharges@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Full official property search

A full official search shows information in the register and extra information relevant to the property.

The full official property search has two parts:

LLC1: The first part, the Official Certificate of Search form, deals with all the charges held on the land charges register. These would include financial charges (registered against the property by the council), improvement grants, tree preservation orders, conditional planning consents and agreements.
CON 29R: The second part, Enquiries of the Local Authorities form, deals with issues such as road schemes, planning history and various notices, which affect the property.

How to request an official property search

To request a search, you will need to submit:

the relevant local land charge search form (LLC1 or CON 29R) - your solicitor will have these forms or you can buy them from law stationers
an up to date scaled site plan showing the extent and location of the land subject of search clearly edged in red.

Requests can be submitted by email to landcharges@towerhamlets.gov.uk or electronically through the National Land Information Services (NLIS).

We do not accept search requests by DX or post.

We do not reply to solicitors’ own enquires through the land charges search section. Solicitors should contact the appropriate council department directly.

Online searches: National Land Information Services (NLIS)

Solicitors can submit full searches to us through the NLIS Hub.The NLIS provides a single point of electronic access to all land and property information. For more information please visit the www.nlis.org.uk.

How long will the search take?

Once we have received your documents and payment, it will take approximately 10 working days to complete the search. We will send the search results by email once complete.

Search fees

For our latest fees, please see our non-statutory fees and charges list

Cancellations

Please be aware that searches may only be cancelled up to 48 hours after submitting the request and should be cancelled by sending an e-mail to landcharges@towerhamlets.gov.uk with the subject header "search cancellation". There is a cancellation fee as detailed in our non-statutory fees and charges list.

How to pay

Payment is accepted by BACS only. Searches will only be accepted once we receive the payment. Please email us if you require BACS details.