Land Charges - History and Background

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What are Local Land Charges?

Local Land Charges were created by the Land Charges Act 1925, which has now been replaced by the Local Land Charges Act of 1975 and the Rules of 1977. Every Metropolitan, City, Unitary and District Council in England and Wales are required by law to keep a Register of Local Land Charges.

The act was introduced to ensure that purchasers of land and property were aware of any obligations that are enforceable against successive owners by local authorities under various statutes.

A Local Land Charge is a: -

  • Restriction/prohibition on land/property or a financial charge,
  • Binding on successive owners or occupiers,
  • Normally a creation of statute.

The Local Land Charges register comprises of twelve parts as follows: -

Part 1 - General Financial Charges
Part 2 - Specific Financial Charges
Part 3 - Planning Charges
Part 4 - Miscellaneous Charges
Part 5 - Fenland Ways Maintenance Charges
Part 6 - Land Compensation Charges
Part 7 - New Towns Charges
Part 8 - Civil Aviation Charges
Part 9 - Opencast Coal Charges
Part 10 - Listed Building Charges
Part 11 - Light Obstruction Charges
Part 12 - Drainage Scheme Charges

Local Land Charges originate from various sources within the council (Planning, Legal etc.) and also originate from external sources such as, water authorities, highway agency, county councils etc. Part 11 charges are the only charges where members of the public can apply to register a charge.

Listed below are some common charges that appear on the Local Land Charges Register: -

  •  Dangerous structures 
  •  Planning conditions
  •  Enforcement notices
  •  Tree preservation orders
  •  Listed buildings
  •  Financial charges
  •  Closing orders
  •  Conservation orders
  •  Housing grants
  •  Planning obligations
  •  Highway agreement
  •  Ancient monument

Click here for local search home page