Highway status enquiries

Land charge searches

When you buy a property or land, your solicitor will submit a full official search request to our Local Land Charges Department.

The purpose of a search is find out about any financial claims or other council decisions or restrictions that affect the property or land.

The Council and the Law Society recommend purchasers undertake a full local land charge search for all property transactions and not rely solely on a personal search.

Read more about land charges.

CON29 enquiries

Part II of the full land charge search will reveal:

• road and traffic schemes
• the property's planning history
• various notices that affect the property

A CON29 enquiry allows you to enquire separately and specifically about:

• nearby road schemes (Question 3.4)
• traffic schemes (Question 3.6)

To make a CON29 enquiry:

• email [email protected]
• add 'CON29 Questions 3.4 and 3.6 Enquiry' to the subject field
• include the address of the property

Highway status enquiries

As well as requesting a full land charge search, many solicitors also submit a highways status enquiry. This will confirm:

• the precise extent of the publicly maintainable highway adjoining a property
• whether it immediately abuts the building line of the property

Many retail and commercial premises in the borough have strips of footway abutting the building line, which are privately maintainable and the responsibility of the owner of the property, not the Council. Glass pavement lights are often inset into these strips to allow light into a basement beneath.

Many streets in the borough also have round metal coal plate covers inset into the footway outside residential properties. Coal plate covers and the stone in which they rest are privately maintainable and the responsibility of the owner of the property, not the Council.

The fee for a highway status enquiry will increase to £118.60 on 1 April 2024. The fee covers the extent of highway outside one property only. Payment is accepted via BACs only and documented proof of payment is required in form of a BACs remittance advice slip. Once payment has been allocated to the Highways account, we will proceed with your request.

Please note: There is a refund fee of 30% of the total amount paid, that was introduced to cover the administration costs of issuing a refund.

To make a request please email us at: [email protected].