The Local Land Charges Section carries out all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975. These searches guarantee comprehensive replies to the official LLC1 and CON29 enquiries.

Official Council Searches

LLC1 Form

The LLC1 form is a requisition for an Official Certificate of Search of the Local Land Charges Register. This requests information from the Register about all local land charges registered against a property in the Tendring District.

CON 29 Form

This is a list of standard enquiries to a local authority which have been agreed between the Law Society and Local Government Associations. It contains a list of 16 set questions and 18 optional enquiries. The forms list a wealth of queries which can be addressed to local authorities as to Town and Country Planning provisions, etc.

How much is a Search and how long will it take?

Full Search - £93.00

Search of Register - £29.00

CON29 R Enquiries - £64.00

CON29 O Enquiries - £10.00 (£20 for Question 22)

Additional Enquiries - £10.00

Extra parcels - £13.00

Copy Search - £13.00

Caravan and Chalets - £11.25

Our aim is to complete standard searches, including those received from the NLIS hub, within 5 working days of the date of acceptance.

Electronic Searches

The National Land Information Service (NLIS) is a joint initiative between Central and Local Government to provide an on-line one-stop shop that will deliver land and property related information. It will bring together information currently held by many different organisations. For further information see http://www.nlis.org.uk/.

Tendring District Council is now joined with NLIS at Level 2 and is moving towards the final Level 3. This means that searches are now received from NLIS electronically which constitutes a considerable time saving. We are currently in the process of computerising our records, which when completed, will enable us to proceed to Level 3, resulting in complete electronic processing. The Solicitor selects the type of search required at the click of a button and as plans are online, this saves time and post or DX costs.

Cancellation of Searches

Searches can only be cancelled, and your fee returned, if the Local Land Charges Office is notified before 10 am on the day the search is received.

Personal Searches

Any member of the public can make a search of the Local Land Charges Register.

If you wish to undertake a search of the Local Land Charges Register, an appointment to visit the offices of the Land Charges department can be made by ringing 01255 686577 between 10-12 am each day. Appointments are available on Monday to Friday between 9am and 12 noon.

For your convenience we do not operate a timed appointment system, but a personal searcher must have completed their searches before 12 noon. The Land Charges offices are based at 88-90 Pier Avenue, Clacton on Sea. CO15 1TN. ( See car park maps)

It is possible that on occasion a searcher may have to wait for the person before them to complete their search. We hope that any wait is outweighed by the convenience of the flexible appointment system. We allow up to 20 searches per morning, but in the interest of fairness no more than 10 per company per visit.

A clear and detailed plan for each property to be searched must be submitted to Land Charges, by email, at the time of booking. Unfortunately appointments cannot be made unless you are in receipt of a suitable plan at the time of booking.

EMAIL: lcharges@tendringdc.gov.uk

The current fee for a personal search is £22.00. The Land Charges Registers are electronic and are held on a database. The search will be prepared by a member of the Land Charges Staff and the information will be available to copy from a computer screen. Guidance on how to access the information can be provided by members of the Land Charges staff. Printouts of the information will not be available.

How to Request CON29 Information for Personal Searches

As from 6 April 2009 you are required to provide a full search for the Home Information Pack (HIP). This will contain an answer to all parts of the CON29 form.

After making an appointment with Local Land Charges to inspect the Register, you should contact the Council's Planning Service to arrange for them to compile the CON29 information that is unavailable on the public registers.

Local Land Charges staff will advise you of when your CON29 information will be ready to collect in order that you can schedule your appointment with Land Charges to coincide with your visit to Planning Services at Weeley.

Your request for the CON29 information should be made to Planning Services in the following way :

1. Fill in a Planning Services CON29 Request Form. This can be downloaded here:

Planning Services CON29 Request Form (word version)

Planning Services CON29 Request Form (pdf version)

Please note that we will need to know which service you are requesting. The form asks you to choose between:

Fast Track, 48 Hour priority service for which fees are charged according to which information you are requesting and hard copy response provided.

Free of charge service where information is available to view at the planning reception counter, which can take up to 20 working days to provide.

2. Send this form along with an up to date extract clearly indicating the property concerned from the Ordnance Survey to:

planning.services@tendringdc.gov.uk

The Planning Service will require a clear 48 hours to prepare your pack. Please note that no CON29 information will be prepared without a plan clearly identifying the property in question.

Personal Search Requests List of Charges Part 1 CON29R (pdf)

The fees outlined in Part 1 (CON 29) of this document are based on information back to 1991. This is in line with the information being provided to the Council's Land Charge Service.

The fee for all the refined data from Environmental Health, Planning and Building Control listed in Part 1 is £16.00. Whilst you are able to opt to select individual questions from the list, please bear in mind a HIP requires you to provide an answer where the information is available.

All fees chargeable on requests for information before 1991 and charges for any requests for photocopies of T.D.C. information are outlined in the Planning Services' 'Scale of Charges'

Calculations for the Charges for Search Fees

Charges for Property Searches 2010 (pdf)

Useful Contacts

The Local Land Charges Office:
Tendring District Council
88-90 Pier Avenue
Clacton on Sea
Essex CO15 1TN
DX 34660 CLACTON ON SEA
Tel: (01255) 686577
Email: lcharges@tendringdc.gov.uk

Drainage enquiries are answered at:
The Geodesys Property Information Centre
P.O. Box 70
Spalding PE11 1DB
Tel: 01480 323889

Land Ownership Enquiries should be addressed to the Peterborough District Land Registry at:
Land Registry
Touthill Close
City Road
PETERBOROUGH PE1 1XN
Tel: 01733 288288

Highways Enquiries should be addressed to:
Mouchel
Victoria House
101 - 105 Victoria Road
Chelmsford
Essex CM1 1JR
Tel: 01245 247000

Complaints Procedure
Should you have a comment or complaint regarding a Land Charges matter it should be addressed to:
Land Charges Manager
Local Land Charges
88-90 Pier Avenue
Clacton on Sea
Essex CO15 1TN