Local Searches - Service Standards
Buying a property, whether it is for living in or for running a
business, a piece of land has risks. It is important that you get a
full picture before going ahead with your purchase. Local searches
identify liabilities or restrictions attached to the property or
land.
Through our regulatory role, the council has information on
developments, plans and conditions on property and land within West
Lancashire as well as a large number of other entries that make up
the Register of Local Land Charges.
The Land Charges Service helps the council meet its corporate
priorities on protecting/improving the environment and improving
access to and satisfaction with services. This information explains
how we respond to enquiries made by yourself (or your solicitor)
regarding local searches, what services we can offer and what
standards you can expect from us.
What we do
- Our Land Charges Section deals with enquiries and is part of
the Legal and Member Services Division. Each year, we deal with
over 3,000 applications. We currently process 100% of standard
searches from initial receipt within the government's target time
of 10 days (putting us within the top performance band).
- Depending on the type of application (and which forms we
receive), we can produce three search products - LLC1 Search, LLC1
Search/CON 29 Search and a Personal Search. For a basic search of
the register, we need to receive Form LLC1. A more detailed search
and enquiries need both LLC1 and Con29 forms. Your solicitor would
normally submit these forms on your behalf, although you can
complete the forms yourself (forms are available from a law
stationers). Alternatively you can conduct or organise a personal
search of our records.
- For LLC1 - we conduct a search of the land charges register to
identify outstanding liabilities or restrictions e.g. financial
charges such as private street work charges, work done to rectify a
dangerous building, and removal of rubbish. Other types of charges
are conservation areas, tree preservation orders, renovation
grants, conditional planning applications, listed buildings,
restrictive covenants, smoke control orders, Article 4 directions
and enforcement notices.
- For CON29 - we complete the questionnaire to state relevant
issues around: compulsory purchase orders, proposed tree
preservation orders, road proposals or schemes, proposed
enforcement action, full planning history and informal/formal
outstanding notices which are undertaken by the council, as well as
many other enquiries.
- The Council also provides searches through the National Land
Information Service (NLIS) and currently has a Level 2 connection
allowing electronic receipt and return of searches to and from the
hub.
Fees and payment
For information on fees and payments please visit our land charges
and local searches page.
Our service promise
- Our Customer Contact Officers answer phone calls. They may be
able to help you with a basic enquiry on fees or standards, but
will put you through to the Land Charges Section for your
specialist enquiries and to take the process further.
- When we have received the completed LLC1/CON29 form from
you/your solicitor, we guarantee to respond within 10 working days
- although the average time taken is 6 working days. It is planned
to fully computerise the Land Charges Service in the future, which
will further reduce turnaround times for council responses. A
trained officer will carry out your search.
- If you want to arrange a Personal Search, these can be arranged
by appointment with the Land Charges Officer giving 24 hours
notice. These are carried out between 10.00am and 12.00pm, and
2.00pm and 3.30pm Monday to Friday at our Ormskirk office. Please
note that a Personal Search is a search of the Local Land Charges
Register only - you may view records and make notes. Copies of the
information are available on payment of a copying fee. A personal
searcher or member of the public will not get answers to the Con29
but can inspect the public registers free of charge. These include
the planning register, enforcement notices, breach of condition
notices, public sewer maps, adopted highways and the public rights
of way.
- We aim to achieve the highest standard and meet performance
targets. However, these enquiries can throw up complex legal
issues, which need to be clarified. If this is likely to delay your
application, we will mention this.
How you can help us
- Please ensure that you are clear about the type of search you
want - you should take advice from your solicitor or check with
agents.
- Please ensure that you/your solicitor correctly completes Form
LLC1 (basic search) and CON29 (detailed search) as
appropriate.
- If you want to arrange a personal search, please give us 24
hours notice.
- We are happy to assist all our customers with special needs.
Please mention this to our staff when you contact the council
(describe any special arrangements)
Our general standards
We have a number of general standards, which apply to all services
across West Lancashire District Council. You may find these useful
to note:
- We aim to answer letters and emails within 10 working
days.
- If you request a fuller reply, or the matter requires detailed
investigation, we will send you an acknowledgment within 10 days,
which will set out what action is being taken and when you are
likely to receive a detailed response.
- We aim to answer your phone calls within 10 seconds.
- You can make an appointment to see a manager or speak to staff
in confidence.
- At all times our staff will show courtesy, respect and
sensitivity.
- To view our general standards visit the link below
Give us your feedback
We want to provide services that delight our customers and which
are second to none. We monitor the standards we set but also value
feedback from our customers and residents on how we can further
improve services. If you have any comments, compliments or
complaints, there is a form on which you can make any suggestions.
These are available by downloading a copy from our website or by
visiting our main offices. Alternatively you can call Customer
Services and one of our advisers will complete a form with you over
the phone.
If you do make a complaint about our services, please note that we
have a formal process for dealing with these. These should
initially be addressed to the service manager whose details are
given below. Our promise to you is that any complaint will be
answered within 10 working days.
Contact us
Click: Local
Searches
Email: stephen.tinsley@westlancsdc.gov.uk
Call: 01695 577177 or 01695 585160
Come in: 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk or the CSP at the Concourse,
Skelmersdale
Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and
9.00am to 4.45pm on Friday.
Our Customer Contact Centre is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to
Friday for telephone calls.
We can provide this information upon request on audiotape, in large
print, in Braille and in other languages.