From today (27 August), anyone requiring local land charges (LLC) searches in the local authority area of Milton Keynes District Council will need to get them from HM Land Registry rather than going directly to the council.
Pete Marland, Leader of Milton Keynes Council, said:
We're proud to be among the first local authorities to move our land charges and personal searches function onto a new national digital database. This is a testament to the rigorous processes that the team have put in place, and the new database will help us improve the service even further. My thanks go out to council colleagues for working collaboratively to help achieve this.
Karina Singh, Director of Transformation at HM Land Registry, said:
Milton Keynes is the latest local authority to offer its local property customers instant, easy access to HM Land Registry's digital Local Land Charges Register. We are working hard with local authorities like Milton Keynes to ensure customers can obtain the information they need quickly, to allow informed property buying decisions, even during lockdown. This is making the conveyancing process quicker and simpler for everyone.
Local land charges searches are normally required in the property-buying process. Most local land charges are restrictions or prohibitions on the use of the property such as planning permissions or listed buildings. The local land charges search will reveal whether a property is subject to a charge which then informs a buyer's decision to buy a property or parcel of land.
HM Land Registry is working in partnership with local authorities in England to migrate their Local Land Charges data to a central, digital register as part of a phased approach. Once migrated, anyone will be able to get instant online search results using the Search for Local Land Charges service.
HM Land Registry's business customers can use their existing portal and Business Gateway channels or their usual search providers to access Local Land Charges data for those local authorities which have migrated.
Customers will need to continue to submit CON29 enquiries to the local authority.
For an overview of the service, watch our short video (1 minute 18 seconds).
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