Local land charge search
Planning fees are changing from 1 April 2025. Fees for planning applications will rise by 1.7%. A draft fee schedule is published on the Planning Portal. Other non-statutory planning fees will increase by an average of 2.7%.
Local land charge timingsOur current turnaround time for personal searches is 20 working days.
If you require a register search to be returned to you before the above date, we can offer you an LLC1 (Official Certificate of Search Form) at a cost of £44. Our turnaround time for this service is two working days.
If you'd like to use this service, then contact land charges or speak to a member of the Local Land Charges team on 020 8314 6262.
Searches are usually carried out on behalf of the Solicitor, Conveyancer or Mortgage Lender. A Local Authority search will identify if there are any legal restrictions, financial charges and any proposals for development that could affect your property.
Local land searches do not reveal ownership for a property or a piece of land. You will need to contact Land Registry or for land that is owned by the Council, our Valuation and Estates Team.
Local Land Charge search results
Local authority searches are covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975 and guarantee comprehensive replies to the official LLC1 and CON29 enquiries. We are required by law to keep a Local Land Charges register. This is a comprehensive record of properties in the borough from residential houses to commercial buildings.
The register includes information such as planning permissions, conservation area designation, tree preservation orders, enforcement notices, improvement grants and financial charges.
The local authority search is in two parts:
LLC1 - this first part, the 'Official Certificate of Search Form', deals with all the registerable charges, for example financial charges registered against the property by the local authority, improvement grants, tree preservation orders, conditional planning consents and agreements.
CON29 - the second part, called 'Enquiries of Local Authorities Form', deals with issues such as road schemes, the planning history of the property and various notices which affect the property.
The CON 29 enquiries questionnaire, which forms part of the official search, contains many 'warning' questions, the answers to which you will not find on any of the statutory registers.
Making a Local Land Charges search request
You can make a request writing by emailing landcharges@lewisham.gov.uk. Your request must include an up-to-date OS plan at 1:1250 with the site clearly marked. You must include a full postal address. If you have requested a search on a flat, please ensure that you provide the correct flat number. Plot numbers will not be accepted, and this will cause a delay to your search.
Payment for the search can only be made by Credit/Debit card. We do not accept cheques or bank transfers.
Optional questions
The CON29O contains 19 optional questions. Any number of these can be requested for the set fee. We do not answer question 8. For a reply to this answer you will need to contact Transco.
Enhanced search
The enhanced search service allows you to be provided with your search alongside the documents that are attached to the register and CON29. This includes copies of Planning Permissions and S278/S106 Agreements. The cost to use this service is £79.00 plus the full Official Search fee.
You can still request for copies of permissions and agreements after you have received your search result, and this will be provided to you within 20 working days.
Expedited searches
If you would like to receive the results for your search sooner than our current turnaround times, you can use our expedited service. If you are submitting a Residential Search, then the results will be returned to you within 24 hours. If you are submitting a Commercial Search then the results will be returned to you within 48 hours.
If you submit an expedited search on a Friday, the earliest that you will receive your results will be Monday.
Please note that our Enhanced Search service is not available under our expedited service.
Amended register
If amendments have been made to your register search and you would like an updated copy of the register, this can be provided to you at a cost of £6.00.
Refreshed search
You can make a request for a refreshed search request, if the request is made within 4 weeks of the date of the search result.
Scale of fees (from 01/04/2024)
| Fee for a residential search on a property/land within Lewisham | £224.00 (£194 Net) |
| Fee for a commercial search on a property/land within Lewisham | £313.60 (£276.00 Net) |
| CON29O questions | £15.00 each (£12.50 Net) |
| Extra parcel of land (Residential) | £26.00 (No VAT is payable) |
| Extra parcel of land (Commercial) | £50.00 (No VAT is payable) |
| Own additional enquiries | £26.00 (No VAT is payable) |
| Local land register (Residential) | £44.00 (No VAT is payable) |
| Local land register (Commercial) | £88.00 (No VAT is payable) |
| Residential CON29 | £180.00 (£150.00 Net) |
| Commercial CON29 | £225.60 (188.00 Net) |
| Amended register | £5.00 |
| Amended CON29 | £5.00 |
| Expedited register (Residential) | Register fee plus £15.00 (£12.50 Net) |
| Expedited register (Commercial) | Register fee plus £30.00 (£25.00 Net) |
| Expedited search (Residential) | Full search fee plus £50.00 (£41.67 Net) |
| Expedited search (Commercial) | Full search fee plus £80.00 (£66.67 Net |
| Enhanced search fee | Full search fee plus £77.00 (£64.17 Net) |
| Registration of Light Obstruction Notices | £60 (No VAT is Payable) |
| Cancellation | Full search fee payable if search is over 24 hours |