A local authority search is one a buyer cannot do without. It tells you what the council holds against a property: planning permissions and refusals, building control history, nearby road schemes, tree preservation orders and more. The information matters. The frustration is how long some councils take to return it.
Through tmConvey you can order local authority searches across England and Wales, alongside your other conveyancing searches, with the choice of an official search from the council or a regulated search that our specialists carry out in person.
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The local land charges registered against the property.
The standard enquiries of the local authority, covering planning, building control, roads and more.
Optional enquiries, where the matter calls for them. See the full range in our searches hub.
Official search. Carried out by the council itself. Reliable, but the turnaround depends entirely on that council.
Regulated search. One of our specialists gathers the same information directly, returning the same picture, usually faster, and backed by insurance that lenders accept.
Some of this work still cannot be done from a desk. Where a council’s records have to be inspected in person, that is exactly what our regional specialists do, which is how a regulated search often comes back well ahead of the council’s own timescale.
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Search specialists who know their local authorities and attend them in person.
An average of nine years’ experience each, across our specialist team.
Average email response time, down from 4.74 hours.
Order an official or regulated search inside tmConvey, follow its progress, and find the result against the matter when it lands, alongside your Report on Title and mapping & data.
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It is a search that reveals what the local council holds on a property, including planning history, building control, road schemes and other matters that could affect a buyer.
It is made up of the LLC1, which lists local land charges, and the CON29, which answers standard enquiries on planning, building control, roads and related matters. Optional CON29O enquiries can be added.
It depends on the council. A regulated search, carried out by a specialist rather than waiting in the council’s queue, often returns the same information sooner. We deliver 95% of searches on time.
An official search is produced by the council. A regulated search gathers the same information through a regulated provider, usually faster, and is backed by insurance. Both are accepted by lenders.
Yes. Regulated searches are insurance-backed and accepted by lenders, which is why many firms use them when a council is slow.
