Local Land Charges
Land Searches
Who owns the
land?
Bedford
Borough Council Local Land Charges
Full Local
Authority Search
How to Apply
for a Search Electronically
Other types of searches
How to request a search
Personal Search
Access to information
Cancelling a
search
Land Charges
fees
Operating
Standards
Contact us
Land
Searches
Before completing a property transaction a
Local Land Charges Search should be submitted to the Local
Authority in whose area the land is situated. This page briefly
explains the Local Land Charges Search process. It is always
advisable to seek independent legal advice about buying a property,
including the conduct of any land searches.
The Local Land Charges Search is normally
submitted by either the purchaser's or the vendors’ solicitor. A
lessee or mortgagee (lender) may also submit a search. Any member
of the public can obtain one. In each case there is a fee for this.
Standard land searches normally take about 2‐3 working days.
* During the period 3rd January 2012 to 28
December 2012, 98.09% of all Search enquires were completed within
3 working days. The average response time was 3 working
days.
Bedford Borough Council belongs to the
Association of Local Land Charges Officers, (ALLCO) a member of the
Local Land Charges Institute aiming to promote a quality service in
this field for all.
If you require the result of a standard search
urgently, please contact us and we will try and assist where
possible, without charging an expedited fee.
We are now able to email your search
results as a pdf document if requested.
We can also accept your search forms and plans
through e-mail. Please ensure your e-mail address is entered
on the application form and we will respond in most cases within 3
working days from receipt of your search. The Land
Charges team can take your Debit or Credit card payment online by
telephone, contact the team at: LocalLandCharges@bedford.gov.uk
Who owns the land?
For any matters relating to Land/property
boundaries or title plans and for information in respect of
ownership, private covenants or restrictions on land, the office to
contact is HM Land Registry. Telephone: 0844 8921111
Bedford
Borough Council Local Land
Charges
The Local Land Charges Section is responsible
for maintaining the Local Land Charges Register and providing fast
access to the information required to complete your official Local
Authority Search.
The Local Land Charges Register holds
information on any legal obligation, restrictions or prohibitions
enforceable against the land or property, or a financial charge
that is binding on successive owners and/or occupiers.
If you are considering purchasing land or
property you will want as full a picture as possible of the site
you are interested in. This can either be an official search
conducted by the Local Land Charges Team at a cost of £163.00,
which on average takes 2‐3 working days, or by a private search
company who visit the Council to do a personal search of public
records and apply for information which is not in the public
domain. The Council charge for register access and access to
information. Please see below.
Full Local Authority
Search
The standard search comprises a form LLC1
Certificate of Search and the CON29R Enquiries of Local
Authority.
LLC1 – This is an Official
Certificate to search the Local Land Charges Register.
CON29R – This is an Enquiries
of Local Authorities Form, is a series of standard enquiries that
deal with issues such as road, traffic schemes, planning history of
the property and outstanding notices, infringement of building
regulations and any pending notices, orders or proceedings.
CON29O – In addition to the
standard enquiries, this form contains 19 optional (part II)
enquiries that you may wish to ask, dealing with issues such as
definitive public footpaths, pipelines, high hedge notices and
registered common land, for which an additional fee is payable.
Any questions which are not covered by any of
these forms can be asked under (part III) for you to add questions
of your own, for which an additional fee is payable.
Any of these forms can be submitted together
or separately.
NB: All replies given to local land charges
searches will only apply to the land which is the subject of the
search (LLC1) and which relate to the specific questions raised
(CON29R/O). See How to request a search and fees.
How to Apply for
a Search Electronically
The National Land Information Service (NLIS)
provides an on‐line one‐stop shop for all land and property related
information in England and Wales.
Bedford Borough Council is electronically
connected to NLIS, you can both send and receive searches
electronically.
For more information visit the NLIS website. Or go to one of the
following NLIS channels to order your searches:‐
Searchflow
Telephone ‐ 0870 787 7625
info@searchflow.co.uk
www.searchflow.co.uk
ThamesWater
GlobalX Information
Services
Please note these are commercial channels and
as such Bedford Borough Council is not responsible for the content
of these websites.
Other types of searches
Other authorities can conduct searches on a
property or parcel of land. Their contact details are provided
below to help you, because these searches are not part of the
official Local Land Charges Search.
Drainage Anglian Water (through Geodesys Ltd)
Tel: 01480 323889
Web: http://www.geodesys.com/
How to request a search
There are full instructions on the Local Land
Charge Search forms. Your solicitor will have these forms or you
can buy them from law stationers.
LLC1 and CON29R forms in duplicate are
required to be submitted at the same time if answers to both are
required.
Please note that searches must include the
following when submitted to be accepted for processing:
• The correct fee (please see Land charges
fees).
• If a search is submitted by a solicitor,
cheques drawn on the solicitor's client account are requested, made
out with the correct amount to Bedford Borough Council. Clients own
cheques are not accepted as a method of payment.
• The correct address quoted together with an
up to date scale plan in triplicate showing the extent and location
of the land subject of search, clearly edged in red.
Personal Search
Personal Search of the Local Land Charges
Register can be made by visiting the Council Offices at Borough
Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AP.
Appointments are available from Monday to
Friday, 10am ‐12pm and 2pm‐ 3.30pm. These should be booked by
telephone with the Local Land Charges Team 24 hours in advance. Tel
01234 276389/276391
A full address and location plan must be
provided at the time of booking.
Plans can be emailed to: LocalLandCharges@bedford.gov.uk
NB: This is not a full search and may
be considered inadequate by a lender or purchaser. The Council
cannot guarantee the information contained in a personal search,
which is compiled by private individual’s solicitors or agents, and
not by Council staff.
Access to information
Please Note: some prices may be reviewed in
the near future.
To comply with Government Guidance issued in
January 2008 this Council is committed to provide access to
information held at the Council and all unrefined data required to
complete Con29R Enquiries.
Some information is publicly available free of
charge via the website http://www.bedford.gov.uk/
However, when there is a need to research the Council records to
provide the data, there will be a charge to cover administration
costs.
Highways Information ‐
contact Highway Department at Bedford Borough Council ‐ 01234
228764 or 01234 276386
In addition to the highway responses provided
on CON29R, the Highways Development Control team is also
responsible for providing answers to highway questions on personal
searches.
Fees from 1 January 2013:
For simply the status and extent of the highway in relation to a
single property, the charge is £42.00 (£35 + VAT).
For status and extent of the highway in
relation to a single property plus additional questions regarding
road schemes, improvements and developments etc within 200m of the
property, the charge is £78.00 (£65 + VAT)
For the status and extent of the highway in
relation to a large plot of land plus additional questions
regarding road schemes, improvements and developments etc within
200m of the land, the charge is £84.00 (£70 + VAT) for up to 150m
of road, plus £24.00 (£20 + VAT) for every subsequent 150m.
Please request this information in writing to
Highways Development Control, Bedford Borough Council, Borough
Hall, Bedford, MK42 9AP. The Council will issue an invoice once we
have responded to your enquiry
Environmental Health
Environmental Health Information is available
from Environmental Health Department ‐ Tel 01234 718527
The Charge is £10.00 for standard Con29R
information including;
3.7 Outstanding Notices
3.11 Compulsory Purchase
3.12 Contaminated Land
3.13 Radon Gas
If the time spent is more involved there will
be a charge of £78.73ph or part thereof.
In that case the cost will be advised in
advance. Please request the information in writing by letter or
email.
Building Control
Information
Building Control Information is available from
Building Control Department‐Tel‐ 01234 718081
1.1 Building Regulations
3.7 Outstanding Notices
3.8 Contravention of Building Regulations
Fees from 1st January
2013:
For Private Searches the charge is £5.49 +
VAT.
For all copy documentation i.e Approvals,
Completion Certificates etc the charge is £9.30 + VAT.
Planning Decisions and
applications
1.1 Planning Decisions and Applications
1.2 Planning Designations and Proposals
3.9 Notices, Orders, Directions and
Proceedings under Planning Acts – information available from
Planning Department
3.10 Conservation Area – available from
Planning Department Public access to planning history and
documentation is available remotely on the Council's website
http://www.bedford.gov.uk/planningsupport or at
the Customer Service Centre, 2 Horne Lane, Bedford, MK40 1RA. If
you are unable to locate copies of planning documents or
information on our website send an e‐mail to planning@bedford.gov.uk for
further direction and assistance. (Please Note: The Planning
Department do not conduct History Searches).
Cancelling a search
We regret that we cannot cancel searches once
entered on the computer as work will have already commenced
Land Charges fees
The Bedford Borough Council is not increasing the Search fees
for 2013.
Current Local Land Charges Search fees from
1st January 2013
The standard search fee ‐ £163.00 for
applications sent through the post or DX.
Certificate of search ‐ £24.00
Con 29R enquiry form ‐ £139.00
Part II optional enquiries ‐ £ 23.00 per question
Additional enquiries ‐ £ 23.00 per question
Additional parcels ‐ £ 23.00 per parcel of land
The standard search fee is ‐ £136.00 for applications submitted
through NLIS electronically
NLIS Certificate of search ‐ £ 22.00
NLIS Con 29R enquiry form ‐ £ 114.00
Method of Payment
If submitted by Solicitor, cheques drawn on the Solicitor’s
client account are requested, made payable to Bedford Borough
Council. Clients own cheques are not accepted as a method of
payment.
Payment can also be made by cash, debit/credit card or online
payment via phone.
If you wish to pay by card please call the Local Land Charges
during office hours on 01234 276389/276391, where a member of
staff will assist in processing online payment
Operating Standards
It is the aim of Local Land Charges to provide
the service of quality we would wish to receive ourselves. We aim
to ‐
- Meet our National Performance Indicators to process a Standard
search in 10 working days
- Meet our self‐imposed target to process a Standard search in
2‐3 working days.
- Endeavour to process ‘urgent’ Standard searches as quickly as
possible
- Provide a replacement Search, free of charge, if replies are
found to be incorrect acknowledge customer complaints within 1
working day
- Monitor our search performance continuously and give our
customers the service they require for staff to be courteous and
helpful, at all times
If you contact us by letter we aim to:
- Acknowledge all correspondence within 1 working day.
- Supply copies of requested documents by return, on receipt of
the required fee.
If you contact us by telephone we aim to
ensure:
- We answer your telephone call within 3 rings
- that we resolve your telephone enquiries the same day, or keep
you informed of the progress if we need to consult with another
party
Contact us
Local Land Charges Section,
Bedford Borough Council,
Borough Hall,
Cauldwell Street,
Bedford
MK42 9AP.
Telephone No: 01234 276391/276389.
DX 117105 – Bedford 4.
Alternatively you may wish to visit our
website at http://www.bedford.gov.uk/
We are open during the hours of 8.45 am to 5.15 p.m. Monday to
Thursday and 8.45 to 4.45 p.m. on Friday