Some of our online payments including garden waste and licensing will be unavailable between 2pm Thursday 28 March to midday Tuesday 2 April due to essential maintenance.

Search applicants are encouraged to submit requests by email and pay online or by cheque to our address below.

When buying a property it is important to carry out a local land charges search to find any information that may affect the property. 

A local land search will give details of 

  • public rights of way
  • adopted roads or footpaths next to the property 
  • full planning history
  • local plan designation
  • building regulations
  • any tree preservation order or listed buildings or conservation areas
  • any enforcement notices 

For an extra fee you can also ask for information about any common land and village green and details of any planning next to the property. 

Searches are usually carried out by a solicitor, although some people do it on their own. If you are doing your own search you need to complete and return forms LLC1 and CON29 (in duplicate) together with two sets of location plans and the correct fee. VAT is charged on all CON29 searches.

Due to national work to move our local land charges service to the Land Registry, the time to process applications may vary. We are working to minimise any delays and apologise for any inconvenience.

Where to send your search 

South Gloucestershire Council
Department for Resources and Business Change
PO Box 1953
Local Land Charges
Bristol
BS37 0DE

Tel: 01454 863060 

 Email: locallandcharges@southglos.gov.uk

Drainage searches 

Wessex Water are responsible for drainage searches. If you want to search their records contact 01225 526206 or email: contactus@wessexsearches.co.uk 

Personal searches 

A personal search is an inspection of the local land charges register from which notes can be made.  

Appointments to view the register can be made Monday to Friday between 10am and 12 noon and 2–4pm, Monday to Friday at our Badminton Road office in Yate. Call 01454 863060 to make an appointment.  

A limit on the number of personal searches may be necessary to avoid disruption to our main service area. Should you be unable to attend our offices on the day of the appointment, we will hold your personal search information for a further 2 working days. 

We will require the following  

  • the name and address of the person or company wishing to carry out the inspection of the local land charges register 
  • the address/description of the property or land against which the personal search is to be made 
  • clear Ordnance Survey plans showing the property outlined, this must be emailed to locallandcharges@southglos.gov.uk (after the appointment has been confirmed) 
  • if CON29 information is required, please state the items required at your initial appointment

Once your appointment has been confirmed we must receive clear Ordnance Survey plans showing the property outlined. These can be emailed to us. 

If plans are not received promptly, your appointment may have to be rescheduled. 

Charges are currently held in a combination of electronic and paper format. 

Quality of address data

We have been awarded platinum status in the 2023 Geoplace Exemplar Awards for the quality of data used across our systems.

Geoplace exemplar awards 2023 winner banner - platinum award for address data, South Gloucestershire Council.

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