We are responsible for providing Local Authority Searches, an important part of the conveyancing process when buying a residential or commercial property.
Searches provide information on land charges, or restrictions which apply to a piece of land, and any properties which are on it.
Typical examples of what a local authority search may reveal
The types of land charges that may affect a property include the following:
- Whether we maintain any roads which are connected to the property, or they are in private ownership
- Road schemes affecting the property
- Planning decisions affecting the property
- Any contamination issues affecting the land
- Building regulations affecting the property
- Any financial or non-financial local land charges registered against the property or land
Details of these are in the Local Land Charges Register, which we maintain, or in other data that is not yet publicly available.
There are two levels of service available, as follows:
Official Local Authority Search
A full Local Authority Search is a statutory process and includes insurance cover, so that you have protection against any losses, if information is missing or incorrect. The search will usually consist of two completed forms, the LLC1 and CON29:
- LLC1 - Restrictions in the Local Land Charges Register on land or property
- CON29 - Enquiries of the local authority, which may include items such as building regulations and planning applications.
You can also choose to request just the LLC1 or just the CON29. Please seek advice from your conveyancing solicitor.
Your conveyancing solicitor may organise a full local authority search for you and request payment from you directly.
Component Data Request
The Local Land Charges Register and parts of the CON29 data are publicly available, and you may prefer to search the Register and CON29 data yourself or via a personal search agent. You can do this at Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services (see full instructions below on how to do this). If you choose to do this, there will be some CON29 data that is held privately, which you cannot access. For this, you will need to make a component data request, meaning that you will only have to pay for the information that you still need.
A personal searcher is able to inspect certain public registers.The information obtained by a personal search agent from public registers is not guaranteed by the Local Authority, and any compensation claim has to be made through the Personal Search Company you have used.
If you would like to better understand what the different levels of search involve, and the forms you will need, you can find out in more detail on the Land Data website.
Select the service you require, to find out more about what's involved and how much you will have to pay.
Apply online
You can use our online form to request official searches. You will need the following information before you can request a search:
- the address of the property you wish to search for
- a plan showing the extent of the property
Choose the search option you require on the form: LLC1 and the CON29 (standard), LLC1 only, CON29 only, or Stone mine enquiry.
We will return your search results to you by email, usually within three working days.
By post
You can apply by post, but you will need to download copies of the LLC1, CON29, and CON29O forms. Please note that these are statutory forms, and there is a charge for downloading copies. Send your completed forms to Land Charges, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Lewis House, Manvers Street, Bath BA1 1JG.
Fees and charges
A Local Authority Search will provide responses to questions 1 to 3.15 of the CON29 form as standard.
| Search type | Residential | Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Official Search (LLC1 and CON29) | £141 | £178 |
| Official Certificate of Search (LLC1 only) | £41 | £53 |
| CON29 enquiries | £100 | £125 |
| Additional enquiries | £26.75 | £26.75 |
| LLC1 and CON29 additional parcels of land (each) | £32 | £38 |
| LLC1 additional parcels of land (each) | £6 | £6 |
| CON29 additional parcels of land (each) | £26 | £32 |
| Stone mine enquiry | £37.50 | £37.50 |
There are additional charges for optional questions on the CON29O form.
| CON29O Question | Fee (inc VAT) |
|---|---|
| Question 4 - road proposals by private bodies | £2.67 |
| Question 5 - advertisements | £9.00 |
| Question 6 - completion notices | £3.84 |
| Question 7 - parks and countryside | £2.16 |
| Question 8 - pipelines | £2.46 |
| Question 9 - houses in multiple occupation (HMO) | £3.00 |
| Question 12 - Local Development Orders & bids | £5.16 |
| Question 15 - land maintenance notices | £5.00 |
| Question 16 - mineral consultation areas | £2.20 |
| Question 17 - hazardous substance consents | £2.20 |
| Question 18 - environmental and pollution notices | £10.80 |
| Question 19 - food safety notices | £10.80 |
| Question 20 - hedgerows notices | £16.20 |
| Question 21 - flood defence and land maintenance | £4.50 |
| Question 22 - common land and village greens | £9.60 |
You can carry out searches of the Local Land Charges Register through a personal search agent if you wish. They can do this in our Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services.The information obtained by a personal search agent from public registers is not guaranteed by the Local Authority. Any compensation claim has to be made through the Personal Search Company who completed the search for you.
They will need to email land_charges@bathnes.gov.uk, and we can set them up with a password to access the register, and provide brief training on how to search it.
They can only view publicly available data in the personal search. To get any of the additional data below, they can request a component data search and send us the correct fee.
We will return the search results to them by email, usually within three working days.
Request component data onlineFees and charges
| Component data type | Fee (inc VAT) |
|---|---|
| Question 3.1 - Is the property included in land required for public purposes? | £1.32 |
| Question 3.2 - Is the property included in land to be acquired for roadworks? | £0.96 |
| Question 3.7b - outstanding environment notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.7c - outstanding health and safety notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.7d - outstanding housing notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.7e - outstanding highways notice | £0.96 |
| Question 3.7f - outstanding public health notice | £0.48 |
| Question 3.9a - an enforcement notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9b - a stop notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9c - a listed building enforcement notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9d - a breach of condition notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9e - a planning contravention notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9f - another notice relating to breach of planning control | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9g - a listed building repairs notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9h - in the case of a listed building deliberately allowed to fall into disrepair, a compulsory purchase order with a direction for minimum compensation | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9i - a building preservation notice | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9j - a direction restricting permitted development | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9k - an order revoking or modifying planning permission | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9l - an order requiring discontinuance of use or alteration or removal of building or works | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9m - a tree preservation order | £0.60 |
| Question 3.9n - proceedings to enforce a planning agreement or planning contribution | £0.60 |
| Question 3.12 - Has any enforceable order or decision been made to compulsorily purchase or acquire? | £2.28 |
| Con 29 question | Available publicly from... | Additional information | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1.1 - Planning decisions | buildingcontrol.bathnes.gov.uk | None | |
| Q1.1 - Building regulations |
|
None | |
| Q1.2 - Local plans | bathnes.gov.uk/local-planning-policy-and-guidance | None | |
| Q1.2a-d - Highways | Highway Record is publicly available on PC's at Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services | None | |
| Q2.2, Q2.3, Q2.4 - Public rights of way | Highway Record is publicly available on PC's at Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services | None | |
| Q3.4a-l - Road schemes | Highway Record is publicly available on PC's at Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services | ||
| Q3.7a - Building works | Highway Record is publicly available on PC's at Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services |
Follow the instructions as you would normally when carrying out a personal search – TLC, data tab, data, select all, find, select spatial extent, save and close, list results. You will then be provided with a number of data type records. If there is a record listed Dangerous Structure - click into this record, the record will show a reference number ending DAN and a field showing the nature of the dangerous structure. If your property is affected by a dangerous structure please make a note of the reference and email building_control@bathnes.gov.uk for further details.
|
|
| Q3.8 - Contravention of building regulations | Highway Record is publicly available on PC's at Bath Housing, Welfare and Advice Services |
Follow the instructions as you would normally when carrying out a personal search – TLC, data tab, data, select all, find, select spatial extent, save and close, list results. You will then be provided with a number of data type records. If there is a record listed Building Regulation Contravention – click into the record, the record will show a reference number ending UNW and a contravention status. If the contravention status is REC, please make a note of the reference number and email building_control@bathnes.gov.uk for further details. If the record status is COM, the notice is complete, you do not need to show this on your search result as the matter is no longer outstanding (if you show the completed record you could be blighting the property). If the contravention status is blank, please email building_control@bathnes.gov.uk with the reference number for further details. If there is no Building Regulation Contravention data record listed against the property being searched, the answer for question 3.7a is none. |
|
| Q3.10a-h - Community infrastructure levy | If a CIL is revealed on the Local Land Charges register direct enquiries 3.10 b-h to cil@bathnes.gov.uk |
3.10a - A Charging Schedule took effect on 6th April 2015. Link Bath and North East Somerset CIL Charging Schedule April 2015. The current charging schedule and other information regarding Bath and North East Somerset Council's CIL instalment policy and exceptional circumstances policy can be found at bathnes.gov.uk/community-infrastructure-levy-cil-and-your-development.
|
|
| Q3.11 - Conservation area | bathnes.gov.uk/find-conservation-areas |
None | |
| Q3.13 - Contaminated land | This document can be viewed by emailing contaminated_land@bathnes.gov.uk, to you will need to provide 24 hours notice. |
None | |
| Q3.14 - Radon gas | www.ukradon.org |
A substantial proportion of Bath & North East Somerset has been identified by the Health Protection Agency and British Geological Survey as a Radon Affected Area. In light of the current information, precautions may be required under building regulations for new buildings and extensions to buildings in the area. An estimate of the probability that an existing individual property is above the action level for radon, and further guidance, can be obtained for a small fee at www.ukradon.org |
| Con 29 question | Reason we do not hold this data |
|---|---|
| Q1.1g-i - Planning decisions | None within Bath and North East Somerset |
| Q3.3a - Drainage |
As schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act has not commenced, there is no legal duty or responsibilities on councils who are also Lead Local Flood Authorities, to keep records of any new or existing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and therefore our records do not allow for the provision of comprehensive answers in relation to this question. We do not have a role in checking final as built drawings and in some cases, SuDS can be implemented without the need to obtain planning permission. Even if planning permission is granted, we have no assurance that the scheme will have been implemented. Furthermore, the Council does not normally adopt SuDS which are on private property unless they are serving public highway. It is strongly advised that the purchaser undertakes their own checks of planning approvals through Planning Online |
| Q3.3b - Drainage | The Council do not hold details of SuDS features serving individual properties. |
| Q3.3c - Drainage | The Council does not hold this information. This information may be obtainable from the original developer or current owner. |
Ways to pay
You can pay for your Local Land Register search in the following ways:
BACS
When making a payment by BACS, please enter Land Charges in the reference. Please email us when you have made the BACS payment, and if possible send us a screenshot of the deposit.
- Bank: National Westminster Bank, Bath
- Sort Code: 56 00 34
- Account Number: 57134464
- Account Name: Bath & North East Somerset Council Suspense Account
Monthly invoice account
You can set up a monthly invoice account with us, and we will invoice you for all searches carried out each calendar month. If you would like to set up an account, please email us at land_charges@bathnes.gov.uk.