Local Land Charges - Personal Searches
Fareham Borough Council welcomes the guidelines made between the ODPM, Local Government Association, The Local Land Charges Institute and major players in the personal search industry. A full copy of the guidelines is available for inspection in the Land Charges section or by visiting the ODPM website at www.communities.gov.uk (this is an external hyperlink).
In accordance with these guidelines, we have drawn up the following guide for those wishing to carry out a personal search in Fareham.
Guidelines for Personal Searches
Any person may make a personal search of the Local Land Charges Register upon payment of the statutory fee, currently £11. An appointment must be made at least 24 hours in advance. Please contact us by telephoning 01329 236100.
Our normal office hours are:
Monday - Thursday : 8.45 - 5.15 Friday : 8.45 - 4.45
We require the address of the property to be searched, together with the name, address and telephone number of the individual or company conducting the search. A plan is also required which should be faxed to 01329 824505. There are currently no restrictions on the number of personal searches that can be carried out in the same appointment. The searcher should be prepared to record any information held in the register. Copies of entries shown can be bought for £1.50 per entry (office copy entries) in addition to the fee of £11. Payment can be made by cash, cheque (with a valid bankers card) or debit card. Once the Local Land Charges Register has been inspected the personal search is completed. However, land charges staff will notify other departments that an appointment has been made should the searcher wish to inspect other public registers, but ...
It is not possible to obtain answers to Con 29 enquiries by viewing the Public Registers only and staff are not obliged to give replies to such requests.
Public Registers
The following Public Registers are available for inspection at Fareham Borough Council during office hours:
- Planning Register and register of enforcement notices, stop notices and breach of condition notices
- Register of public sewer maps
- Register of publicly adopted highways (held by Hampshire Highways South)
- Hazardous substance consents register
- Register of litter control areas and street litter notices
- Noise abatement zones register
- Public rights of way register
- Registration schemes register
- Register of contaminated land
- Food premises register
- Notices register
- Authorised process register
Register of Common Land and Town and Village Greens - Please consult Hampshire County Council.
Although the above registers are open for inspection, the onus remains with the searcher to correctly identify the property or land to be searched and to understand and record the information, including entries in the Local Land Charges Register, as staff are not obliged to assist.
The Local Authorities (Charging for Land Searches) Regulations 1994 gives Local Authorities the power to charge for dealing with enquiries relating to property transactions, including personal searchers.
The Council's Executive has agreed that information held which does not form part of the Public Register may be divulged and charged the additional search enquiry fee, currently £39, for each item. This is the same fee that a solicitor would pay for an additional enquiry on a search and each department will require separate payment for the information they provide.
For further information please contact the Local land Charges Service by telephoning 01329 236100 or by emailing landsearches@fareham.gov.uk
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