Hastings Borough Council helps improve the property buying process in the area

Hastings Borough Council has been working with HM Land Registry to transfer their local land charges (LLC) service to the national digital register. The LLC Register will allow users to search for information online instantly, enabling buying decisions to be made earlier in the conveyancing process.

Local land charges include restrictions or prohibitions on the use of a property or piece of land, such as planning permissions or listed building status. An easy search of the national register will show if a property has a charge and help the buyer make an informed decision about a purchase.

Hastings Borough Council’s transformation supports the wider government priorities to make property transactions quicker, simpler, and cheaper. The digital register can be accessed by visiting www.gov.uk/search-local-land-charges. Business customers can also access it through their portal account or Business Gateway.

Anyone can now download a personal search free of charge or buy an official search from Land Registry for £15 (this allows unlimited repeat searches for six months). All the information is delivered in an easy-to-read format, with geospatial maps.

Hastings Borough Council will continue to provide replies to CON29 enquiries, these include information about road schemes, planning history and environmental matters. You only need to pay them the CON29R fee, more information about these fees can be found on the council’s website.

When all local authorities in England and Wales transfer their local land charges service to the national register, it will contain more than 25 million charges. Data users will find it easier to search, merge and digest the information, while entrepreneurs and innovators will be able to develop new social and economic solutions that benefit the wider UK economy.

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Cllr Julia Hilton, lead councillor for Development Management at Hastings Borough Council, said: “We are pleased to be one of the early adopters of HM Land Registry’s new digital register, which enables our town to benefit from a transparent, user-friendly service. This new register removes the need to wait for searches to be sent back, meaning clear and accurate data can be accessed online instantly, speeding up the buying process.

“More information on the local land charges programme can be found by visiting https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-land-registry-local-land-charges-programme.”