Great Yarmouth Borough Council

What is a Local Land Charge ?

Submitting a Search

Our Performance

Guidance Notes for Personal Searches

Local Land Charge Fees (note new fees from 1 May 2008)

Contact Us

What is a Local Land Charge?

The Council keeps a wide range of information about land and buildings within the Borough. This information can affect your property or the property you may be interested in purchasing.

There are many "Land Charge" types and they may contain information about, for example, historic buildings grants which the Council may have given several years ago but which the owner may have to repay. Information such as road protection lines, Conservation Areas, land subject to compulsory purchase or houses affected by Closing Orders can be revealed on a Search. Planning consents are also covered.

This information is revealed by the result of a Local Land Charges Search. A Search is usually made by a Solicitor, Licenced Conveyancer or Home Information Pack (HIP) provider who will send a Search to the Council at Maltings House, Gorleston.

We do not have or hold details of:

• Electricity, gas, water or telephone services

• Restrictive covenants

• Land ownership

• Land or property boundaries.

Submitting a Search

A Solicitor, Licenced Conveyancer or Home Information Pack (HIP) provider will usually submit a Search. You can, however, submit a Search yourself.

To submit a Search you must use a special form obtainable from:

The Solicitor's Law Stationery Society Ltd
Oyez House
7 Spa Road
London
SW16 3QQ.

An up-to-date site or property location plan will be needed so that we can identify the relevant parcel of land or property.

Our Performance

We try to process all Searches within 5 working days of acceptance.

Guidance Notes For Personal Searches

If you would like to make a personal search of the Local Land Charges Register please contact the Land Charges Section on 01493 846425 or 01493 846326 or e-mail landcharges@great-yarmouth.gov.uk to arrange an appointment. It is necessary to make an appointment at least 24 hours in advance. When calling please provide the following information:

• Name and/or company.

• Address of property.

• Up to date location plan so we can identify the relevant parcel of land or property.

To be emailed to landcharges@great-yarmouth.gov.uk or faxed to 01493 846110.

Appointments

Appointments start from 9:30 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 16:00 Monday to Friday.

The Local Land Charges Section address is:

Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Planning and Development Department
Maltings House
Malthouse Lane
Gorleston
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk NR31 0GY

The office is located just north of the traffic light junction at High Road/Beccles Road. A location map can be sent on request.

Please note appointments will be kept open for 30 minutes after which a new appointment will have to be made. This is to ensure staff coverage and to minimise staff disruption to the ‘official’ search process.

The following facilities are offered:

1. Statutory Search of the Local Land Charges Register. This entitles you to view the registers. Our records are kept at a number of locations and you will have to extract the information from the files and indexes yourself. Staff will be unable to assist you with enquiries or questions. Fee £11.00.

2. Assisted Personal Search. Documents are made available in advance and staff are generally on hand to answer your queries. The cost to the Council is met by the higher fee. This should save you time. Fee £36.00.

Payment can be made by cheque or cash and a receipt will be issued.

What information will a Local Land Charge Register search provide?

The Council keeps a wide range of information about land and buildings within the Borough. Land Charges are formal restrictions on the use or development of land and property which apply to existing and future owners. There are many "Land Charge" types that the Local Land Charge Register contains information about. For example: historic building grants which the Council may have given several years ago but which the owner may have to repay; road protection lines; Conservation Areas; land subject to compulsory purchase or houses affected by closing orders and planning consents.

What other records can I look at in Maltings House?

It must be stressed that a personal search is only of the Local Land Charge Register. A personal searcher, or any member of the public, is entitled to inspect other public registers. These include:

• Planning Register.

• Register of Enforcement Notices, Stop Notices and Breach of Condition Notices.

Although the above registers are open for inspection, that does not mean that staff are under a legal obligation to supply supplementary or additional advice. Our staff have been advised not to give gratuitous information because of the legal implications. You should, therefore, be aware that you will be required to retrieve your own information from the records provided. This means that as an Official Certificate of Search form is not obtained, it is highly unlikely that this would be sufficient for mortgage purposes. Members of the public are therefore advised to contact their Building Society before proceeding.

Upon written request to Great Yarmouth Borough Council (see contact details on page 1) a personal searcher will be supplied with an office copy of any registration, document, map or plan connected to a registration. A statutory fee of £2.50 applies to Light Obstruction Documents and £1.50 for a copy of an entry in the Local Land Charges Register. Copies of original plans, maps and other items will be charged a reasonable fee according to the time and work involved if it does not infringe copyright.

There is additional information that is used for ‘official’ searches that is not held on records available for public inspection. This includes information that would normally be included in a Local Enquiry Report (CON29) for example any outstanding notices that are not registered as a land charge.

We do not have or hold details on:

Highways and Common Land: please direct enquiries to:

Norfolk County Council who hold the Register of Publicly Adopted Highways and Registers of Common and Town or Village Greens.

Legal Orders Team
Legal Services
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
NR1 2SG

Tel: 01603 222957
Fax: 01603 222899
Website: www.norfolk.gov.uk

Drainage: please direct all enquiries to:

Geodesys
PO Box 485
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire
PE29 6YB.

Tel: 01480 323889
Fax: 01480 323890
Website: www.geodesys.com

Land/Property Ownership: please direct all enquiries to:

Land Registry Kingston Upon Hull Office
Earle House
Colonial Street
Hull
HU2 8JN.

Tel: 01482 223244
Fax: 01482 224278
Website: www.landreg.gov.uk

If you have any comments or queries about personal searches please contact the Land Charges Section, on 01493 846425 or 01493 846326 or email landcharges@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

Please note the search that you undertake is entirely at your own risk and the Council can take no responsibility for any errors or for the extent and quality of information you decide to include on your search(es). If you are an agent, your client(s) should be made aware of this.

Local Land Charge Fees (please note new fees are applicable from 1 May 2008)

Part 1

Additional Enquiries

Personal Searches

For your information , the Council will soon be introducing two new services in connection with Local Searches:

1) Fast Track Premium

2) Refresher (only available on a full search) - a renewal of a search upon expiry and within one year.

Definition of Commercial and Non-Commercial

Non - commercial:

To include individual dwellings including houses, bungalows and self contained flats either in residential or holiday use where the vendor is a private individual. It would also include individual building plots for residential properties where the site is either currently vacant or under construction.

Commercial:

All other types of search.

Copy of Planning Permission Notice

Fee is currently £5.00

For further information please call 01493 846425 or send an email to landcharges@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

To contact the Council's Land Charges Section

Telephone: 01493 846425 or 846326

Email: landcharges@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

Facsimile: 01493 846110

Alternatively, contact us online using the contact form below:

Form - Contact

Documentation and enquiries can be sent to:DX41119 GREAT YARMOUTH

Or by wrinting to:
Local Land Charges
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Planning and Development Department
Maltings House
Malthouse Lane
Gorleston
Great Yarmouth
Norfolk.
NR31 0GY