Local authority searches

The Land Charges Register: Local Authority and Commons searches.

The Land Charges Register and searches

We have a statutory requirement to generate, maintain and regularly update a Local Land Charges Register and to provide local searches to purchasers of land or property.

Searches are required to ensure purchasers are not caught out by obligations or restrictions, which are binding against successive owners.

A search result will include any entries – known as 'charges' – recorded against the property being searched.

These could include:

  • planning decisions
  • smoke control orders
  • conservation areas
  • tree preservation orders
  • financial charges where the council is able to recover money owed to it

A search will not tell you who owns a property – you will need to contact HM Land Registry for ownership information.

Contact the land charges team