Land Registry to work with 26 councils on migrating local land charges records

HM Land Registry is work with 26 local authorities in England over the coming year to migrate their Local Land Charges (LLC) records to a centralised digital register.

The move is part of its efforts to build the foundations for a national LLC Register.

The centralised register will launch later this year and benefit up to 125,000 homebuyers in 2018 to 2019, the Land Registry claimed.

It insisted that the new digital register would eliminate regional variations in the speed, format and costs of LLC searches. Online search results will be available instantly in a range of formats to suit the customer.

Chief Executive and Chief Land Registrar Graham Farrant said: “In today’s world, people expect to be able to access government information online quickly and easily, and for a reasonable fee.

“A national Local Land Charges service will achieve that.

“HM Land Registry has a track record for modernising land-related systems and is very pleased to be taking on the delivery of the national Local Land Charges digital register. This is a significant step forward in the Government’s ambition to make the house-buying process simpler, faster and cheaper.”

Most LLCs are restrictions or obligations such as listed status, tree preservation orders or notice of a conservation area.