Information for property buyers

A local land search is the established way to obtain a range of property information held by the local authority, such as:

  1. planning decisions
  2. highway adoption and road schemes
  3. conservation and tree preservation orders
  4. official notices
  5. building regulation matters

Prospective buyers need to know this kind of information before a purchase as it may restrict their plans for the property or affect its price or saleability when they come to sell, maybe many years later. This includes any legal restrictions or development proposals affecting a particular property.

The main search products are described below.

LLC1

This is an officially verified search of the Local Land Register, covering information such as:

  1. planning charges
  2. listed buildings
  3. local financial charges

CON29R

The CON29R is a form of standard enquiries that asks the Royal Borough about a property. This search covers regular questions such as:

  1. road proposals
  2. proposed enforcement action
  3. compulsory purchase orders
  4. and other types of notices under the Planning, Highways and Public Health Act

CON29O (Questions 4 to 22)

The CON29O contains other optional, less requested information, such as:

  1. highway information
  2. planning information
  3. environmental information
  4. common land
  5. gas pipelines
  6. definitive footpaths

Highway Search

A specialised highway search can be carried out to provide an adopted road plan and a series of additional highway related checks made against a site.

You can request an official search for one or more official search products, or ask for information about specific questions within a search product. The products and fees are listed in the table below.

Please note Building Control searches are now operated on a self-service basis. 

Search product Fee (including VAT)
Full official search - LLC1 and CON29R £204
LLC1 only (local land charges register) £44 plus £12 for each additional parcel of land (VAT not applicable)
CON29R only (standard enquiries) £160 plus £32 for each additional parcel of land
All questions in CON29O £147
Individual questions in CON29R and CON29O £21
Enquirer's own questions (note that questions that need extensive research or a site visit will have different fees - check before requesting the search) £37 per question plus £13 for each additional parcel of land
Highway search  £70
Highway search with additional questions £211

Additional servicesOn average, a search request takes 20 to 25 working days to process and complete.

Document requests: Copies of planning documents can be obtained by emailing documentrequest@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

Document requests Fee
Copy of a Decision Notice or an Appeal Decision Notice £25
Copy of a plan - A4 £3
Copy of a plan - A3 £9
Copy of a plan - A2 and above £19
Copy of a Tree Preservation Order £49
Copy of s106 Agreement £57
Copy of Enforcement Notice/ Compliance Notice £49

Please note that most planning related documents are freely available on the online planning portal. 

Please also note that information relating to the discharge of planning conditions should be directed to planningapps@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

Personal search: A personal search provides a view of the Local Land Register. The results of a personal search should be checked by a suitably qualified party as they are not verified by Local Land Charges officers. Clarifications relating to personal search results can only be answered by requesting an LLC1 search.

To request a personal search, email searches@royalgreenwich.gov.uk.

We accept a maximum of five personal search requests per search agent each day, to ensure a fair and equal distribution of council officer time to process cases.

Contact land charges

For LLC1/CON29 enquiries, email: local-land-charges@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

For highways searches, email: highwaysearches@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

For personal searches, email: searches@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

For document requests, email: documentrequest@royalgreenwich.gov.uk