When you’re moving through a property transaction, Local Land Charges (LLCs) sit quietly in the background… but they’re doing a lot of heavy lifting.
They protect buyers, inform lenders, and ensure no one inherits an unexpected restriction or liability. And now, with HM Land Registry’s digital migration well underway, the way we access and understand these charges is changing for the better.
Here’s a clear, friendly, five‑minute guide to help newer faces to conveyancing explain the essentials.
What are Local Land Charges?
Local Land Charges are restrictions, obligations or prohibitions that are tied to land or property and automatically pass to each new owner. They’re created by public bodies using statutory powers and must be registered so that buyers are informed before committing to a purchase.
Classic examples include:
- Conservation areas
- Listed Buildings
- Smoke Control Orders
- Tree Preservation Orders
- Planning conditions or enforcement notices
- Highways Agreements (S38 / S278)
- Assets of Community Value
- Financial liabilities like CIL
- New Towns Act charges
- Light Obstruction Notices
If it limits how the land can be used – or ensures someone pays what they owe – it’s probably a land charge.
LLC1 vs CON29: clearing up any confusion
Buyers often mix these up, so here’s the easy explanation:
- LLC1 reveals everything held on the Local Land Charges Register – the legally binding charges.
- CON29 covers local authority enquiries about things not held on that register, such as road schemes, planning history, or building control.
Together, they form the ‘full search’, but they serve very different purposes.
What’s in the Local Land Charges Register?
LLCs are grouped into Parts 1–12, covering everything from financial charges (like CIL) to planning designations, environmental protections, historic buildings, aviation restrictions, compensation schemes and more.
Some charges are mapped in spatial datasets. Others exist only as text entries. Many are highly technical, but the purpose is always the same: to alert the buyer to something important before they exchange.
The HMLR Digital Migration; what’s changing?
Since 2018, Local Land Charges registers have been gradually transferring from individual councils to HM Land Registry’s national digital service. Not every authority has migrated yet, but the end goal is a centralised, standardised, instantly searchable dataset.
The benefits are big:
- One national search portal, instead of 300+ different council processes
- Better mapping, using INSPIRE spatial datasets
- Consistent turnaround times
- Cleaner, clearer data, reducing the risk of omissions
- Easier access for conveyancers, especially in edge cases or multi‑parcel searches
For buyers and conveyancers, this means a more predictable, transparent experience – and fewer discrepancies between planning systems, mapping, and the LLC register.
Why this matters in practice
LLCs can flag anything from a straightforward TPO to a condition that must be discharged, a financial liability still owed, or a highway obligation that limits future alterations. Even one missed entry could have costly consequences.
The digital migration helps reduce these risks by improving visibility, consistency, and auditability.
Local Land Charges may not grab headlines, but they’re one of the most important safeguards in the homebuying journey. Understanding how the register works – and how the HMLR digital upgrade is modernising it – helps conveyancers guide clients with confidence, clarity and the right expectations.
