There are two types of Local Land Charges search:

This is carried out by the Council’s Land Charges Team and involves researching the Local Land Charges Register for entries relating to a property and supplying an 'Official Certificate of Search', which details the entries found in the Register.

To request an Official Certificate of Search you will need to complete a request form (an 'LLC1' form – obtainable from Law Stationers) to give details of the property and your contact details and send it to us with a plan clearly identifying the property’s boundaries* and the relevant fee  (see Land Charges Search Fees).  Alternatively, you can complete Torbay’s short version of the application form (Torbay 2), which also includes options for applying for other documents that form part of a local authority property search.  The Local Land Charges Team will send the Official Certificate of Search to you within 3 to 5 working days.

This allows a person to inspect the Local Land Charges Register, which is held in the Council’s offices at the Town Hall, Castle Circus, Torquay, TQ1 3DR.  Anyone can carry out a personal search, but they are usually carried out by Personal Search Agencies. In Torbay the Local Land Charges Register is held in many different formats and is very difficult to interpret.  Therefore, rather than the personal searcher inspecting the different formats in person, the Land Charges Team will inspect them on their behalf and the personal searcher only needs to attend the offices to collect the results.

The Land Charges Team requires at least 3 whole working days notice to carry out a personal search and operates an appointment system.  Appointments are available between 10.00am and 12.30pm every day, 2.00pm to 4.00pm on Mondays to Thursdays and 2.00pm to 3.00pm on Fridays.  Appointments should be booked by telephone (01803 207107) and are allocated on a first come, first served basis although they can be booked up to two weeks in advance.  Examples of our appointment system follow:

Each appointment must be confirmed via email (landcharges@torbay.gov.uk) and the address of the property to be searched set out in the text of the email.  A completed application form (Torbay 1) and a plan identifying the property’s boundaries* should be attached to the email.  

Up to 10 personal searches can be booked at each appointment as long as an application form and plan for each is received via email in the Land Charges office within the timescale referred to above.

When attending the office to collect the personal search results, please make yourself known at the main reception desk at the Town Hall (the entrance to which is directly opposite the Job Centre Plus offices) and a member of the Land Charges Team will give the results of their research to you and can be taken away.There is no charge for this service.

* All plans submitted should be in an up-to-date Ordnance Survey map format (scale 1:1250 or 1:2500) with the boundaries of the property clearly marked in red.  If the plan is feint or blurred or the Land Charges Team is unable to easily identify the boundary, your plan will be rejected and the search could be delayed.