Spelthorne Borough Council

Providing Quality Services to the People of
Ashford, Laleham, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell & Sunbury

Local Land Charges

Customer Care Charter BUYING LAND/PROPERTY Whenever you buy a property in Spelthorne you need to make a search, which is sent to the Local Authority, normally via a solicitor acting on your behalf who should explain the results of the search to you. Two sets of forms make up the search - LLC1 and CON29. The LLC1 deals with information from the Local Land Charges register. The register contains important information about the property, which might affect what you can do with it or its future, and you need to be aware of this before you buy. Information such as:

Financial Charges (Registered against the property by the Local Authority);
Planning Agreements;
Tree Preservation Orders;
Enforcement Notices;
Conditional Planning Consents;
Improvement Grants;
Smoke Control Orders;
Buildings of Special Architectural and Historic Interest;

The CON29 deals with supplementary information held by the Local Authority. The information is very comprehensive and provides essential answers about the property, such as:

Is there going to be a major highway running through the property?
Is the road in front of the property maintained at public expense or will you have to maintain it?
Is there a contravention in relation to a building Regulation affecting the property?

In fact there are 64 replies to standard questions given in CON29 form R. There are also optional enquiries (CON29 form O) that we can reply to if you want more information. THE LOCAL LAND CHARGES SECTION The Local Land Charges Section is within the Council's Legal Services. Should you have an enquiry relating to any Local Land Charge matter, please contact the Local Land Charges staff at Spelthorne Borough Council who will endeavour to assist you.

Telephone:	01784 44648301784 446485
DX No:	98044 STAINES 2
Address:	Local Land Charges Spelthorne Borough Council Council Offices Knowle Green Staines TW18 1XB

Opening hours:

8.45am to 5pm Monday to Thursday
8.45am to 4.45pm on Friday.

APPLICATION FOR A LOCAL SEARCH When applying for a search, please ensure the following is sent:

The LLC1 and CON29 forms, in duplicate, if you require answers to both;
The correct fee - this Authority does not accept personal cheques. All cheques should be make payable to the Spelthorne Borough Council and cannot be post dated;
A clear address indicating the property being searched;
A Land Registry filed plan, in duplicate, outlining the property in red.

Please be advised that once a search has been accepted for processing, regretfully, it cannot be cancelled. PERSONAL SEARCHES Personal Searches can be made by appointment only during the hours of 10am to 12 noon and 2pm to 4pm. A fee of £11 is payable for inspection of the Local Land Charges Register. The Local Authority will not fill in the application forms nor will they be signed. DRAINAGE ENQUIRIES All drainage issues are dealt with by Thames Water Utilities. A separate Search must be sent to them. The address and telephone number is as follows: Thames Water
PO Box 3189
Slough
SL1 4WW DX: 151280 SLOUGH 13 Tel No. Residential 0118 923 6656 Tel No. Commercial 0118 923 6652 Fax No. 0118 925 1516 Web Site: www.twsearches.co.uk COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS If you use the Local Land charges services and have any problem or complaint, please let us know so we can try and put things right. Knowing when something goes wrong helps us to improve our service by making sure it cannot happen again. Forms you can use to make a complaint or indeed a suggestion on how the service could be improved are available from the Local Land Charges Section at the Council Offices in Knowle Green. We have for some years actively consulted our customers about our standards and quality of service through our annual customer satisfaction survey. We encourage constructive criticism and take on board, wherever possible, our customers wishes. OUR AIM As you have to pay to make a local Search if you buy a property, we feel you are entitled to receive a quick and efficient service at a known cost. So that you know what to expect we have clear standards, which we will meet, when you request our services. These are set out below and show the timescale from receipt of your request to our reply.

Whole Search	Up to five working days	£201.00
Additional Parcel	Up to five working days	£15.40
Con 29 'O' optional enquiry	Up to five working days	£15.00
Solicitors own enquiry	Up to five working days	£20.00
Personal Search	By appointment only	Free of charge
Copies of documents	Up to 10 working days
	Planning Permissions	£10.00 each
	Agreements	First sheet £2.90 plus 0.75p for each following sheet
	Copy of Duplication Search	£7.20
Replies to written enquiries	Up to 10 working days

Local Land Charges
DX 98044 - STAINES-2 n.b. Please note that due to the change in circumstances regarding the provision of Highway Information, it is regretted that Spelthorne Borough Council can no longer offer the Service of Expedition on Search Applications Should you have any queries relating to the above, please do not hesitate to contact any of the Local Land Charges staff as indicated above.

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