Local Land Charges Service
Local land charges in Lewes district
We have a statutory duty to maintain the register of Local Land Charges affecting land and property in both Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough, however we do not have information on private land ownership or property boundaries, enquiries about these should be made to Gov.uk - Land Registry.
We also process searches of the Local Land Charges register and respond to CON 29 Enquiries.
The register is a collated list of various restrictions and obligations that are binding on successive owners or occupiers of land and property.
A search is usually made during property transactions. It protects purchasers and mortgagees from being caught unaware and gives them prior knowledge of potential liability for financial or other restrictions or prohibitions.
A few examples of common Local Land Charges are:
- conditions attached to planning permission
- Planning Obligation (usually by agreement or undertaking)
- conservation area
- Tree Preservation Order
- listed building designation
- Enforcement notice
A Local Authority Search is usually carried out when land or property is bought or leased. It can be applied for by anyone but it is normally done by solicitors or conveyancers. Some applications are submitted to the local authority through third parties, such as property search companies or online search providers.
Search Options
There are various ways to search the Local Land Charges register and request CON 29 Enquiries. A standard official search is in two parts LLC1 and CON 29. Forms are available in paper and electronic format from law stationers.
Form LLC1
This consists of a search of the Land Charges Register. It reveals if there are any outstanding charges such as financial ones where money is owed to the council when work has been carried out on the property or land.
Other charges include tree preservation orders, renovation grants, conservation and listed buildings, road agreements, conditional planning applications and enforcement notices.
Form CON 29
This is a questionnaire and the information comes from various council departments. It contains Part 1 standard questions revealing any:
- road proposals or schemes
- compulsory purchase orders
- enforcement actions
- building regulations or planning applications and formal/informal notices
Form CON 29 Optional
Part 2 of the Form CON 29 includes optional enquiries that may be requested at the discretion of the applicant such as public paths, noise abatement orders and pollution notices.
Component Search
You can request replies to specific CON 29 questions using our Local Land Charges Search Request Form and payment of the appropriate fee. The fees for Eastbourne Borough Council and Lewes District Council are can be downloaded below.
Personal Search
A Personal Search is an inspection of the Local Land Charges register that you conduct yourself. It is your responsibility to identify the land/property and to take note of any information held in the register.
At Eastbourne Borough Council and Lewes District Council we currently offer different ways to conduct a Personal Search, there is no fee for either of these searches.
Eastbourne Borough Council
For searches within Eastbourne Borough, we offer a free online search facility.
Lewes District Council
For searches within Lewes District you can send an email to locallandcharges@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk requesting a personal search along with the full address and a plan highlighting the property to be searched. The results will then be emailed back to you.
Please note, from 25th April 2025 Lewes District Council will no longer provide a local land charges search service (there will be no change for Eastbourne Borough Council).
After this date, our Local Land Charges Register will have migrated to HM Land Registry's national register. You will be able to access a new digital service through Portal, Business Gateway and on HM Land Registry's GOV.UK pages with effect from 30th April 2025.
Lewes District Council will continue to provide replies to Con29 enquiries.
It is important to remember to only submit the required fee of £168.00 when submitting a standard CON29 enquiry to us after 24th April 2025. The full list of fees can be found below in the 'Lewes District Council Local Land Charges Fees' document.
For more information visit Local Land Charges Programme GOV.UK
Some of the CON 29 information is available for free by personal inspection of statutory registers or public records.
Please ensure you enclose the following documents:-
- An up to date copy of the plan. Please mark clearly the outline of the area to be searched in red. It is crucial that the plan also shows the surrounding roads and properties.
- Form LLC1
- Form Con29
When completing the CON 29 form for an official search, please note that the council cannot reply to phrases in Box C such as "all those abutting the property". Relevant roads (maximum of three) should be clearly named, or described, in Box C, and may additionally be marked on your plan.
A separate application is required for each property or piece of land (subject to the additional parcels section below).
The information given in reply to a search relates only to the land/property identified on the search request and plan.
The National Land Information Service offer a way of sending and receiving searches and payments electronically, via a number of licensed channel providers. Contact the NLIS channel providers for information on their services and how to participate. There are other providers of online services.
Additional parcels of land
For search purposes a 'parcel' is a piece of land/property occupied or owned separately from the land adjoining it, or separated by more than just a road, river or railway.
Normally, a separate search should be made for each parcel of land. However, a search can include more than one parcel if it is required for the purposes of a single transaction and the parcels have a common boundary or are separated only by a road, river or railway.
We also accept a garage as an additional parcel where it is located in a nearby garage block on the same development as the dwelling being searched. The same principle applies to parking spaces.
If requesting a component CON 29 Enquiries search, the fee for each additional parcel will be the same as for the first parcel (subject to a maximum of £12.00 per parcel).
Other organisations which hold information
There are a number of other organisations that you may want to contact for further or different types of information.
- For planning matters (since 1/4/2012) and planning policy within the National Park you can go to the South Downs National Park Authority website
- East Sussex County Council has further information on County-wide development plans, public highways, rights of way, road/transport schemes, common land, town and village greens
- Radon gas information can be found on UK Radon - radon risk reports and measurement services
Public records
Some information may be available in other areas of our website. An appointment may need to be made with the relevant department in order to carry out a personal inspection.
- Planning and Building Control
- Planning Register
- Local Plans
- Tree Preservation Orders and Hedgerow Notices
- Enforcement Notices, Stop Notices and Breach of Condition Notices
- Listed Buildings
- Conservation Areas
- Hazardous Substances Register
Environmental Health
- Food Premises Register
- Contaminated Land Register
- Register of Permitted Processes - Part B and A2 installations
- Licensing Register
- Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Register
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