Local Land Charges

Boston Borough Council's Local Land Charges Register has moved to HM Land Registry

Migration of Local Land Charges Data to HM Land Registry (HMLR)

HM Land Registry (HMLR) is working in partnership with Local Authorities in England to standardise and migrate Local Land Charges register information (LLC1) to one accessible place.  Our Local Land Charges data has now been migrated to HMLR and so you will no longer be able to get Local Land Charges search results from this Authority.  This includes personal searches of the register.

You can access the HMLR Local Land Charge Service through your HM Land Registry portal account, business gateway and on the gov.uk website:- Search for local land charges on land and property - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

How do I know if a property is within the Boston Borough Council district?

The Boston Borough Council area consists of:-

Algarkirk, Amber Hill, Benington, Bicker, Boston, Brothertoft, Butterwick, Fishtoft, Fosdyke, Frampton, Freiston, Holland Fen, Kirton, Leverton, Old Leake, Sutterton, Swineshead, Wigtoft, Wrangle, Wyberton.

We now only accept CON29 searches.

A local land charge search is normally required in connection with the sale, purchase and/or re-mortgaging of any land or property to make sure the purchaser is aware of any charges or responsibilities it may have.

The word "charge" means any outstanding financial claims, restrictions, decisions or information which may affect a particular property or parcel of land. 

CON29 Search form

The CON29 Search form is usually requested by solicitors or licensed conveyancers, although private individuals or organisations can also apply for such information.  The CON29 form is a standard legal questionnaire and the answers come from various council departments.  The content of Part 1 of the Local Authority Search CON29 search (known as CON29R) consists of five main areas:-

• Planning permissions history and any notices, orders and proceedings under the Planning Acts;
• Building Control history;
• Highway status and proposed works;
• Housing notices;
• Environmental Health notices.

Part 2 of the CON29 form (known as CON29O) consists of optional enquiries, including pipelines, environmental notices, pollution notice and common land.

How do I submit a CON29 Search request?

CON29 searches can be submitted in a number of ways:-

• via email to: the local land charges team
• via the NLIS Portal (the National Land Information Service)
• via the TM Portal
• via post to the Local Land Charges Team

If submitting via email or post please provide a completed CON29 and/or CON29O form with a good quality plan with the boundaries of the property clearly marked.

Full details of all our CON29 search fees are below:

Payment can be made by credit/debit card, by cheque (made payable to Boston Borough Council) or by BACS (account details can be provided on request to the Local Land Charges Team). 

Please note if paying by BACS it can take up to 5 days for confirmation of payment by the council's finance team.  Searches will not be able to be processed until payment has been confirmed. 

Once the form/plan has been checked we will contact you for payment.

CON29 Unrefined Data (EIR)

In complying with Government guidance issued in January 2008, this Council is committed to providing access to all publicly available records held by the Council and all unrefined data required to complete the CON29 enquiries of the Local Authority form.

Some of the CON29 information is held on public registers (eg the Planning Register) or by other authorities (eg the Highways Department of Lincolnshire County Council). 

CON29 information that is not publicly available

The information needed to answer the following CON29R questions that are not held publicly are:-

1.1 (j), (k), (l) - Building Regulations

3.3 - Drainage matters

3.5 - Railway schemes

3.7 - Outstanding notices

3.8 - Contravention of building regulations

3.9 - Notices, orders, directions and proceedings under Planning Acts

3.10 - Community Infrastructure Levy

3.11 - Unimplemented Conservation Areas

3.12 - Compulsory purchase

3.13 - Contaminated land

How to apply for CON29 Unrefined Data under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR)

Under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) if you wish to inspect the non-public data (held by this Authority) needed for a CON29R please make a written application that includes the information below.  Alternatively, you can complete the form below.  The application should include the following information:

• the full address of the property required to be searched, including post code;
• a clear plan of the property/land clearly outlined in red;
• the numbers of the CON29R questions required.

All searches will be returned electronically to the search requester when all relevant information has been gathered and the local land charges team have completed final checks.

Good Practice Guidance for Local Authorities and Personal Searchers

In 2008 the Government published a Good Practice Guide for Local Authorities and personal searchers.  The guidance sets out good practice regarding records held by Local Authorities for inclusion in a property search.  This guidance was developed by a Working Group comprising of representatives of local government, property search companies and central government.  Our Local Land Charges Team operates in accordance with the guidance.  A copy of the good practice guidance can be found in the downloads section.

Local Land Charges Account

Boston Borough Council must publish information about the cost of providing local land charges services as well as the income received (required by The Local Authorities (England) (Charges for Property Services) Regulations 2008.  The Local Land Charges Account information can be accessed here.

Why choose a local authority search?

There are a large number of companies which offer a local authority search service as well as the local authority.  However, all searches have one thing in common - information must be obtained from the local council.

Always remember, you have a choice.  You do not have to accept a personal search just because it is the norm for the solicitor/conveyancer. 

Drainage enquiries

Boston Borough Council is unable to answer drainage enquiries.  You should therefore contact the sewerage undertaker for the Boston borough area which is Anglian Water Services.  They can be contacted:

Geodesys Limited

Tel: 0800 085 8050

Website: www.geodesys.com