What is a land charge?
A land charge is a restriction or obligation on a property or piece of land. It is usually to limit its use or secure payment of a debt to the council related to the property. These restrictions bind all future owners or occupiers of the land.
Land charge searches
These restrictions are not always included in your deeds. Your solicitor will do a local authority search as part of the conveyancing when you buy or re-mortgage a property.
A land charge search will reveal any existing charges on the property. This may help you decide whether to continue with your sale.
You can request both domestic and commercial local land charge searches. They detail the prohibitions and restrictions that may affect a property's use.
What the land charge search will identify
- The planning history of the location and any queries over its use.
- Any planning policies which affect the location.
- Any developments that directly affect the location.
- All charges that would restrict use or result in a charge for the new owner of the property.
Request a land charge search
To request a personal search, email: landcharges.landcharges@harrow.gov.uk. You can pay for searches by credit or debit card or cheque. Full searches take about 10 working days.
Types of searches
You can request local property information. You can do this by requesting different types of searches. To request any of these searches, email the Land Charges Team.
Personal Search
This is a search of the local charges register. It is carried out under the Local Land Charges Act 1975 and Local Land Charges Rules 1977. This search shows all registered property restrictions.
It includes smoke control, enforcement notices, and financial charges.
LLC1
This is an official search of the Local Land Charges Register. It may reveal binding, registered restrictions on the property. They apply to successive owners. This can include, for example, planning permission, tree orders, and listed buildings. Many LLC1 requests come with a CON29. This official certificate will be signed on behalf of the authority.
CON29R
The CON29R search has mandatory enquiries for a property search. This search provides information, including:
- Building and planning regulation applications
- Planning proposals
- Roadway adoptions
- Traffic and road schedules
- Public purposes for the land
- Drainage agreements and consents
- Railway schemes
- Public health notices
- Conservation areas
CON29O
The CON29O search contains extra optional enquires.
This search gives potential buyers information about the property and, in some cases, its area.
The search contains a standard set of enquires in respect of:
- Planning
- Building Control
- Environmental Health
- Compulsory Purchase Orders
- other matters of interest to home buyers.
The enquiries on this part of a Con29 form may be more relevant to some properties than to others. They can include the following:
- Public footpaths,
- Parks, countryside, and common land areas
- Noise abatement
- Environmental and pollution notices
- Completion notices
- Land maintenance notices
- Urban development areas
- Houses in Multiple occupations (HMO)
- Pipelines
Full Searches
This search is a combination of the LLC1 and CON29 searches. To see what this includes, please see the LLC1 and CON29 information above.
Land charge search fees
The table below shows the fees for Local Land charges and enquiries in Harrow. They apply to applications received from March 31, 2024.
| Type of search | Fee | 20% VAT | Total fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC1 form | £18.00 | N/A | £18.00 |
| LLC1 additional parcel | £20.00 | N/A | £20.00 |
| CON29 form | £265.00 | £53.00 | £318.00 |
| Total fee for official search | £280.00 | £56.00 | £336.00 |
| CON29 additional parcel | £20.00 | £4.00 | £24.00 |
| CON29 additional part 2 enquiry | £35.00 | £7.00 | £42.00 |
| Each additional non-printed question | £40.00 | £8.00 | £48.00 |