Official local authority searches
In most cases your solicitor will ask the council to do the search. This is because councils do all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975.
We are able to collect information from lots of different departments including planning and building control and bring it together to form a local authority search.
An official local authority search is made up of two types of searches:
Local land charges search (Form LLC1)
This is a search of the local land charges register. It shows any charges affecting the land or property, such as planning decisions and tree preservation orders, and details of money owed to the council by previous owners.
Local authority search (Form CON29)
This search reveals any planning, highway or environmental issues that either affect your land or property now, or could affect you in the future.
It includes an optional section (CON29O) which covers any common land enquiries such as public paths and pollution orders. The majority of the information comes from departments within the council.