Buying a property in the district will be much quicker and simpler from next month (April 18) thanks to West Lindsey District Council’s digital transformation.
The team has worked with HM Land Registry to transfer our local land charges (LLC) service to their national digital register. A Local Land Charge is required whenever a property is sold, purchased, leased or re-mortgaged. The LLC Register allows users to search information online instantly, enabling buying decisions to be made earlier in the conveyancing process.
Most local land charges are restrictions or prohibitions on the use of property or land, such as planning permissions or listed building status. A search of the national register will reveal whether a property is subject to a charge and enable the buyer to make an informed decision about the purchase.
Nova Roberts, Director of Change Management, ICT & Regulatory Services at West Lindsey District Council is please the service is now live. She said:
“The work undertaken with HM Land Registry is a significant achievement and ensures that property buyers can obtain the information that they need quickly, making the conveyancing process simpler for everyone. I would like to thank my team for all their work in making this happen as it will undoubtedly improve the service for our customers.”
Benefits of the new local land charges official search includes:
- A guaranteed result with consistent data quality.
- The full spatial extent of every charge appears on the search result.
- Standard £15 fee for each search, providing a reduction to the current national average price.
- Consistent quality of data which provides clear and accurate search results.
- Instant online search result with 24/7 access to the data.
- Unlimited repeat searches for six months to check for any new charges before completing a transaction.
- Search history dashboard giving you access to your previous searches at any time.
- Secure, digitally signed and tamperproof, ensuring authenticity.
- Anyone can access the register’s Search for local land charges service. Business customers can also access it through their portal account or Business Gateway.
The council will continue to manage other searches including:
- CON29, which provides answers to the property/land that only the Council hold information regarding. This can include recent statutory noise complaints or any road proposals and traffic schemes that affect the property.
- Environment Information Regulations (EIR), which provides environmental information held on Council records, for example information on Building Regulations.
West Lindsey District Council will be unable to process any searches received between the 11 and 18 April 2023. Any requests sent during this time may not be recorded or completed until after the 19 April 2023.
Please do not hesitate to contact the Local Land Charges team by email: llc@west-lindsey.gov.uk; or call: 01427 676 624, if you have any questions or require any assistance during the migration.
For more information visit: Land Charges