Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has become the latest local authority to migrate its local land charges data to the government’s central, digital register.
Anyone requiring local land charges (LLC) searches in the Dudley local authority area will need to get them from HM Land Registry rather than going directly to the council.
Commenting, Dudley Council’s Director of Finance and Legal, Iain Newman said:
“We are delighted to be the first borough within the Black Country to migrate to HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges Register.
“We are confident that the change will be seamless for our clients and residents, whilst maintaining our high level of service and the quality of our data.
Programme Director for HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges Programme, Mark Kelso added:
“I am delighted that people buying property in Dudley will now have access to instant local land charges search results.
“We are working hard with local authorities, like Dudley, to ensure property buyers can obtain the information they need quickly, allowing informed property buying decisions.”
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 building status.
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 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 via GOV.UK using the ‘search for local land charges’ service.
