Established by law in 1925 and re-organised by the 1975 Act, the council maintains the statutory Local Land Charges Register. We facilitate statutory official and personal searches of the Register and complete the CON29 enquiry forms submitted officially and in some cases facilitate access to CON29 information by the private sector search companies and any member of the public. The purpose of the Local Land Charges Register is to record details of all entries registered against properties that fall within the definition of a local land charge in the Local Land Charge Act 1975 and expressly made a Local Land Charge by statute or a charge which is a restriction or prohibition on a parcel of land to secure payment or restrict its use. The charge is binding on successive owners.
There are two types of search defined by the legislation:
1. An Official Search made by submission of Form LLC1 for an Official Certificate of Search of the Local Land Charges Register. This is guaranteed by the council under Section 10(3) of the Local Land Charges Act 1975.
2. A Personal Search made by any individual requesting to view, either in person, or via electronic means, a search of the Local Land Charges register or extract relating to the land. (No guarantee provided by the Council). There is no charge for this service. If you email us before 2pm on a weekday, we can send you the results of your search on the same day. If we receive your request by 3pm, your results will be emailed to you the following day. Dependant on the volume of requests received, return times may vary. Please email your request to land_charges@lbhf.gov.uk
The Local Search
The Local Search, normally required as part of a conveyancing transaction, combines the information revealed by way of a search of the Land Charges register with other standard enquiries of the Local Authority included in Form CON29 (Law Society Copyright) CON 29 enquiries. CON29 Services are subject to VAT and this has been included in the applicable fees and charges.
There are two main types of Local Search available to conveyancers:
- The council Local Search produced by the council which combines completed Form LLC1 and Form CON29 and is guaranteed by the council.
- The Regulated Personal Local Search produced by private sector search companies (PSC's) which combines information obtained from viewing the Local Land Charges register and other public registers and lists, with separate enquiries of local authority departments to answer the questions contained in the CON29.
A Local Search consists of two parts:
- restrictions on the property which are binding on successive owners, such as financial charges, tree preservation orders and enforcement notices revealed by as search of the local Land Charges Register; and
- replies to a standard set of enquiries agreed by central government, the Law Society and local authorities giving information of a more general nature including planning and building control history and outstanding statutory notices that are not a Land Charge. It importantly provides information on items that are in the pipeline/being considered and/or awaiting approval. Much of this information is supplied to Local Land Charges and PSC's by other council departments, the government and outside bodies. Your legal advisor will normally choose the type of search required and ensure this meets your needs and the requirements of your mortgage lender if you have one. The Local Land Charges section of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham carry out all official searches covered by the Local Land Charges Act 1975, guaranteeing complete and comprehensive replies by the council to the Official Certificate of Search (LLC1) and CON 29 enquiries.
To submit an application, please do so online using either:
NLIS, or an NLIS Channel Partner, TMGroup, the InfoTrack portal or a private search company. You can also submit your requests by email. You will need to include all relevant documents (forms and location plan) and send to land_charges@lbhf.gov.uk
Please ensure the following wording is used in the subject line of your email: Search Request + Address of search + (your own reference). A member of the team will telephone you to take a card payment for the fee required. Please do not post or try to hand deliver your application for a search to be made.
New fees apply from 2 April 2024 as follows:
| Fee type | Fee |
|---|---|
| LLC1 | £7.40 |
| LLC1 Additional Parcel of Land | £1.20 |
| Con29(R) | £399.00 |
| LLC1/CON29 | £406.40 |
| Con29(O) | £21.80 |
| Additional Enquiry | £37.00 |
| Con29(R) Additional Parcel of Land | £48.10 |
| Personal Search (LLC Register) | £0 |
| Personal Search (LLC Register) Additional Parcel of Land) | £0 |
| Personal Search (Individual Questions on CON29(R) including sub-sections) | £7.50 |
| Copy of a Search | £14.80 |
Please see the PDF below for links to information and contacts relating to questions asked on the CON29 enquiry form:
CON29 enquiry form (pdf 170KB)
Turnaround time for an official search
We expect to return your search within 10 working days at the latest. Many of our searches will be completed earlier than this. We work to carry out searches in the date order that we receive them.
Contact us
By phone: 020 8753 2765 - office hours 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday
By email: land_charges@lbhf.gov.uk
By post:
Environment Department
Local Land Charges
PO Box 67719
London
W6 6FA
Planning and building control
Environmental Services keeps the Statutory Planning Register of Applicants and Decisions (kept in line with s69 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990); and the London Development Framework Plan.
All building regulations and planning enquiries are dealt within Environmental Services. Call 020 8753 1081 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Send any written enquiries to:
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Town Hall Extension
King Street
Hammersmith
London, W6 9JU
A list of all highways within the borough maintained at public expense
Drainage enquiries
We no longer act as an agent for Thames Water Utilities. Please refer enquiry 3.3 of Form CON29(R) directly to Thames Water Utilities for replies.
Thames Water
PO Box 3189
Slough
SL1 4WW
DX No: 151280 Slough 13
Useful Thames Water contacts
Residential conveyancing
0118 923 6656
Commercial conveyancing
0118 923 6652
Asset location searches
0118 923 6664
Thames Water Property Searches website
HM Registry Service
We do not hold a register of private land ownership. The HM Land Registry Office which deals with land ownership for the Hammersmith & Fulham area is in Birkenhead:
Birkenhead (Rosebrae) District Land Registry
Rosebrae Court
Woodside Ferry Approach
Birkenhead
Merseyside
CH41 6DU
DX No: 24270 Birkenhead (4)
0151 472 6666
Fax:0151 472 6789