The Council has a statutory duty to make the Local Land Charges Register available in order to facilitate a Personal Search, for which the statutory fee of £11.00 applies.  You will be shown the Register entry (if any) for the property being searched.

Although the statutory fee is cheaper than a local authority search, the final price is generally about the same after the personal search company have added their costs.

The term ‘Personal Search’ means exactly that and refers solely to a search of the Local Land Charges Register. A personal searcher, or indeed any member of the public may inspect the Local Land Charges Register upon paying the prescribed fee. Once the Local Land Charges register has been inspected, the personal search has been concluded. A Personal Searcher is not entitled to ask for or expect answers to the questions shown on the Enquiries of Local Authority Form (CON29).

Once you have searched the register you may need to make appointments to make enquiries of records maintained by other departments within the authority and those maintained by other organisations.

The Law Society recommends that, except in instances where time does not permit an official search to be made, an official local land search should always be carried out as a matter of good practice. Some mortgage companies do not accept personal searches.

Booking Your Personal Search

The personal search companies claim a number of advantages compared with a full search in terms of speed, cost and their ability to provide information on adjoining properties which they observe from the public registers. 

Huntingdonshire District Council has an appointment system for the booking of personal searches, Personal search companies are allowed to make appointments from Monday to Friday morning appointments between 10 and 12 only and numbers are limited with a waiting list system.  Please telephone to make an appointment with the Land Charges Section, who will require the following information:-
• Full address of the property or land against which the personal search is to be made;
• The name of the person or Company carrying out the personal search;
• A copy of a current Ordnance Survey map outlining the property to be searched against.
This information should be faxed/delivered by no later than ten o’clock on the day prior to the appointment.
This Authority also has adopted  the following cancellation procedure for personal searches:-
• The local land charges office requires 24 hours notice of a cancellation or alteration to a search appointment;
• If a plan is not supplied by the time stated then the appointment for the personal search will be cancelled and the personal search company will need to re-book the search on the
• next available day;
• All appointments must be attended by midday, of the date in question and if the appointment time is not met, the search(s) will be cancelled and a fee charged;

• The fee payable should the search company fail to arrive for their appointment,miss their appointment or cancel less than 24 hours prior to the appointment, is £11.00 for each address booked on the day in question.