Local Land Charges
Local Land Charges aim to protect buyers of land from being
caught out by obligations against them by Local Authorities under
various statutes.
A local land charge is restriction on a particular parcel of
land, whether to secure the payment of a sum of money, or limiting
the use to which the land may be put, and is binding on successive
owners or occupiers of that parcel of land.
These restrictions would not normally be shown on your deeds
therefore your solicitor would perform a Local Authority Search as
part of your conveyancing when you buy or re-mortgage your property
to highlight any of these charges.
Why is a Local Land Charges search performed?
Buying a house can be a complicated process. Here we have set
out how we can help to make it as straightforward as possible and
have provided some contacts to sources of information that you
might find helpful.
When you buy a house (or perhaps land) you usually go through a
number of checks to make sure there are no problems with the
property that would result in a charge being sought from yourself
as the owner.
As part of one of those checks it is normal to have a local land
charges search undertaken. This is normally organised by your
solicitor or licensed conveyancer on your behalf but can also be
carried out yourself.
Depending on what questions have been asked the local land
charges search will amongst other things identify :
-
The planning history of the site and any queries arising over
its use
-
The planning policies which affect the site
-
Any developments directly affecting the site.
-
And any Local Land Charge that would restrict use or could
result in a charge being directed at the new owner of the
property.
Personal Searches
Personal searches can be made between the hours of 10.00 am to
12.00 pm and 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm by appointment.
Contact Local Land Charges
Open: 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (except
Bank Holidays)
Post:
Local Land Charges Section, Dover District Council, White Cliffs
Business Park, Dover, Kent CT16 3PJ
DX: DX 6312
Telephone: 01304 872354 / 872355
Fax: 01304 872452
E-mail: LandCharges@dover.gov.uk
