Local Authority Searches

• What's it all about?
• Official Local Land Charge Searches
• Water Searches
• Fees
• What is a personal search?
• What about CON 29 Questions?
• Our Commitment to you

What's it all about?

When you are buying or selling a house, your solicitor will make a search of the Council's records to ensure there are no hidden surprises, such as motorways at the bottom of your garden or outstanding Notices requiring you to take action to remedy an earlier wrong doing.

Official Local Land Charge Searches

The Local Land Charge Section carries out all official searches covered by the Local Land charges Act 1975, guaranteeing comprehensive replies to the official LLC1 and CON29 enquiries.

The Law Society, which regulates solicitors, encourages the use of official searches and considers that alternative personal searches of the statutory register, disclosing only limited information, should only be undertaken with the approval of the client when time does not permit official searches. You are advised to confirm with your solicitor that an official search has been undertaken and to inspect the Certificate of Official Search.

Water Searches

United Utilities looks after the network of public sewers in Tameside. This is a change because until recently, we carried out the day to day work on sewers in our area. This work has now transferred to United Utilities.

If you are asking for a search to be undertaken or you are waiting to undertake a personal search, please contact United Utilities Map Services on 0870 7510101. Access www.unitedutilities.com for further information.

Click here for help and advice on highway drainage, land drainage or private drainage.

Fees (as at 1st April 2005)

Personal Searches

The Council is experiencing a rise in the number of personal searches, despite the speedy turnaround time for official searches.

What is a Personal Search?

If you want to look at the Local Land Charge Register yourself you can do for a £11 fee. This allows you to come into our offices and effectively do a search yourself. Whilst you are here you can look at the land charges register and you can also view our planning register, the development plan, and find out if any highways around the property are adopted.

To arrange this you can telephone us on 0161 342 3064 or use our on-line system to book an appointment. You need to supply us with the address of the properties you are investigating. You can pay on-line or you can pay by cheque or credit/debit card when you arrive but please remember that the fee is £11 per property.

The council's computerised Building Regulations records do not extend back before 1st November 1999 so apart from using page (in development) to check that far back, prior non public records need to be searched manually. We will do this for you but there is a £20 fee for this service which can be ordered and paid for by clicking here. Copies of certificates cost £20 each and can be ordered and paid for on-line by following the link above.

If your request is of an urgent nature please contact us on 0161 342 2637. Please note there is an extra charge for urgent requests.

Only the basic information that is required to be contained in these Registers is open for inspection.

What about CON 29 Questions?

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.

Examples of the information only to be found by submitting a CON 29 are given below:-

• Compulsory Purchase Orders
• Proposed Tree Preservation Orders
• Many informal notices under planning and highways laws not found on any register
• Road proposals or schemes (including road widening)
• Proposed enforcement action or breach of conditions notices

If you rely on a personal search from a solicitor or personal search company may we remind you that they are not given, or entitled to receive, answers to the questions on the CON 29, and any information they do obtain is not covered by Section 10(3) of the Local Land Charges Act 1975 which relates to compensation for loss. The only way to receive this information is to submit the official LLC1 and CON 29 forms.

Our Commitment to You

We aim to return all official searches within 5 working days and in any case within 10 working days.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Land Charges Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne Lancs OL6 6DL View local map
0161 342 3064
0161 342 3111