Local Land Charges Act 1975

1975 CHAPTER 76

Contents

Go to Preamble

1. Definition of local land charges

   1. 1. Local land charges

   2. 2. Matters which are not local land charges

2. Local land charges registers, registration and related matters

   1. 3. Registering authorities, local land charges registers, and indexes

   2. 4. The appropriate local land charges register

   3. 5. Registration

   4. 6. Local authority’s right to register a general charge against land in certain circumstances

   5. 7. Effect of registering certain financial charges

3. Searches

   1. 8. Personal searches

   2. 9. Official searches

4. Compensation for non-registration or defective official search certificate

   1. 10. Compensation for non-registration or defective official search certificate

   2. 11. Mortgages, trusts for sale and settled land

5. Miscellaneous and supplementary

   1. 12. Office copies as evidence

   2. 13. Protection of solicitors, trustees etc

   3. 14. Rules

   4. 15. Expenses

   5. 16. Interpretation

   6. 17. Amendments of other satutory provisions

   7. 18. Power to amend local Acts

   8. 19. Repeals and transitional provisions

   9. 20. Short title etc

6. SCHEDULE 1

   Consequential Amendments

7. SCHEDULE 2

   Repeals

An Act to make fresh provision for and in connection with the keeping of local land charges registers and the registration of matters therein.

[12th November 1975]

Definition of local land charges

1 Local land charges

(1)A charge or other matter affecting land is a local land charge if it falls within any of the following descriptions and is not one of the matters set out in section 2 below:—

(a)any charge acquired either before or after the commencement of this Act by a local authority [F1or National Park authority], water authority [F2sewerage undertaker] or new town development corporation under the M1Public Health Acts 1936 M2 and 1937, . . . F3,the M3Public Health Act 1961 or [F4the Highways Act M41980 (or any Act repealed by that Act)][F5or the Building Act M51984],or any similar charge acquired by a local authority [F1or National Park authority] under any other Act, whether passed before or after this Act, being a charge that is binding on successive owners of the land affected;

(b)any prohibition of or restriction on the use of land—

(i)imposed by a local authority [F1or National Park authority] on or after 1st January 1926 (including any prohibition or restriction embodied in any condition attached to a consent, approval or licence granted by a local authority [F1or National Park authority] on or after that date), or

(ii)enforceable by a local authority [F1or National Park authority] under any covenant or agreement made with them on or after that date,

being a prohibition or restriction binding on successive owners of the land affected;

(c)any prohibition of or restriction on the use of land—

(i)imposed by a Minister of the Crown or government department on or after the date of the commencement of this Act (including any prohibition or restriction embodied in any condition attached to a consent, approval or licence granted by such a Minister or department on or after that date), or

(ii)enforceable by such a Minister or department under any covenant or agreement made with him or them on or after that date,

being a prohibition or restriction binding on successive owners of the land affected;

(d)any positive obligation affecting land enforceable by a Minister of the Crown, government department or local authority [F1or National Park authority] under any covenant or agreement made with him or them on or after the date of the commencement of this Act and binding on successive owners of the land affected;

(e)any charge or other matter which is expressly made a local land charge by any statutory provision not contained in this section.

(2)For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) above, any sum which is recoverable from successive owners or occupiers of the land in respect of which the sum is recoverable shall be treated as a charge, whether the sum is expressed to be a charge on the land or not.

[F6(3)For the purposes of this section and section 2 of this Act, the Broads Authority shall be treated as a local authority [or National Park authority].]

2 Matters which are not local land charges

The following matters are not local land charges:—

(a)a prohibition or restriction enforceable under a covenant or agreement made between a lessor and a lessee;

(b)a positive obligation enforceable under a covenant or agreement made between a lessor and a lessee;

(c)a prohibition or restriction enforceable by a Minister of the Crown, government department or local authority [F1or National Park authority] under any covenant or agreement, being a prohibition or restriction binding on successive owners of the land affected by reason of the fact that the covenant or agreement is made for the benefit of land of the Minister, government department or local authority [F1or National Park authority];

(d)a prohibition or restriction embodied in any bye-laws;

(e)a condition or limitation subject to which planning permission was granted at any time before the commencement of this Act or was or is (at any time) deemed to be granted under any statutory provision relating to town and country planning, whether by a Minister of the Crown, government department or local authority [F1or National Park authority];

(f)a prohibition or restriction embodied in a scheme under the M1Town and Country Planning Act 1932 or any enactment repealed by that Act;

(g)a prohibition or restriction enforceable under a forestry dedication covenant entered into pursuant to section 5 of the M2Forestry Act 1967;

(h)a prohibition or restriction affecting the whole of any of the following areas:—

(i)England, Wales or England and Wales;

(ii)England, or England and Wales, with the exception of, or of any part of, Greater London;

(iii)Greater London.

Local land charges registers, registration and related matters

3 Registering authorities, local land charges registers, and indexes

(1)Each of the following local authorities—

(a)the council of any district,

[F1(aa)a Welsh county council;

(ab)a county borough council;]

(b)the council of any London borough, and

(c)the Common Council of the City of London,

shall be a registering authority for the purposes of this Act.

(2)There shall continue to be kept for the area of each registering authority—

(a)a local land charges register, and

(b)an index whereby all entries made in that register can readily be traced,

and as from the commencement of this Act the register and index kept for the area of a registering authority shall be kept by that authority.

[F2(3)Neither a local land charges register nor an index such as is mentioned in subsection (2)(b) above need be kept in documentary form.]

(4)For the purposes of this Act the area of the Common Council of the City of London includes the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple.

4 The appropriate local land charges register

In this Act . . . F1, unless the context otherwise requires, “the appropriate local land charges register”, in relation to any land or to a local land charge, means the local land charges register for the area in which the land or, as the case may be, the land affected by the charge is situated or, if the land in question is situated in two or more areas for which local land charges registers are kept, each of the local land charges registers kept for those areas respectively.

5 Registration

(1)Subject to subsection (6) below, where the originating authority as respects a local land charge are the registering authority, it shall be their duty to register it in the appropriate local land charges register.

(2)Subject to subsection (6) below, where the originating authority as respects a local land charge are not the registering authority, it shall be the duty of the originating authority to apply to the registering authority for its registration in the appropriate local land charges register and upon any such application being made it shall be the duty of the registering authority to register the charge accordingly.

(3)The registration in a local land charges register of a local land charge, or of any matter which when registered becomes a local land charge, shall be carried out by reference to the land affected or such part of it as is situated in the area for which the register is kept.

(4)In this Act, “the originating authority”, as respects a local land charge, means the Minister of the Crown, government department, local authority or other person by whom the charge is brought into existence or by whom, on its coming into existence, the charge is enforceable; and for this purpose—

(a)where a matter that is a local land charge consists of or is embodied in, or is otherwise given effect by, an order, scheme or other instrument made or confirmed by a Minister of the Crown or government department on the application of another authority the charge shall be treated as brought into existence by that other authority; and

(b)a local land charge brought into existence by a Minister of the Crown or government department on an appeal from a decision or determination of another authority or in the exercise of powers ordinarily exercisable by another authority shall be treated as brought into existence by that other authority.

(5)The registration of a local land charge may be cancelled pursuant to an order of the court.

(6)Where a charge or other matter is registrable in a local land charges register and before the commencement of this Act was also registrable in a register kept under the M1Land Charges Act 1972, then, if before the commencement of this Act it was registered in a register kept under that Act, there shall be no duty to register it, or to apply for its registration, under this Act and section 10 below shall not apply in relation to it.

6 Local authority’s right to register a general charge against land in certain circumstances

(1)Where a local authority have incurred any expediture in respect of which, when any relevant work is completed and any requisite resolution is passed or order is made, there will arise in their favour a local land charge (in this section referred to as “the specific charge”), the following provisions of this section shall apply.

(2)At any time before the specific charge comes into existence, a general charge against the land, without any amount being specified, may be registered in the appropriate local land charges register by the registering authority if they are the originating authority and, if they are not, shall be registered therein by them if the originating authority make an application for that purpose.

(3)A general charge registered under this section shall be a local land charge, but section 5(1) and (2) above shall not apply in relation to such a charge.

(4)If a general charge is registered under this section pursuant to an application by the originating authority, they shall, when the specific charge comes into existence, notify the registering authority of that fact, and any such notification shall be treated as an application (subject to subsection (5) below) for the cancellation of the general charge and the registration of the specific charge.

(5)Where a general charge is registered under this section its registration shall be cancelled within such period starting with the day on which the specific charge comes into existence, and not being less than 1 year, as may be prescribed, and the specific charge shall not be registered before the general charge is cancelled.

(6)If the registration of the general charge is duly cancelled within the period specified in subsection (5) above and the specific charge is registered forthwith upon the cancellation or was discharged before the cancellation, then, for the purposes of section 10 below, the specific charge shall be treated as having come into existence at the time when the general charge was cancelled.

7 Effect of registering certain financial charges

A local land charge falling within section 1(1)(a) above shall, when registered, take effect as if it had been created by a deed of charge by way of legal mortgage within the meaning of the M1Law of Property Act 1925, but without prejudice to the priority of the charge.

Searches

8 Personal searches

(1)Any person may search in any local land charges register on paying the prescribed fee.

[F1(1A)If a local land charges register is kept otherwise than in documentary form, the entitlement of a person to search in it is satisfied if the registering authority makes the portion of it which he wishes to examine available for inspection in visible and legible form.]

(2)Without prejudice to [F2subsections (1) and (1A)] above, a registering authority may provide facilities for enabling persons entitled to search in the authority’s local land charges register to see photographic or other images or copies of any portion of the register which they may wish to examine.

9 Official searches

(1)Where any person requires an official search of the appropriate local land charges register to be made in respect of any land, he may make a requisition in that behalf to the registering authority.

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1for the purposes of serving any such requisition on the Common Council of the City of London section 231(1) of the M1Local Government Act 1972 shall apply in relation to that Council as it applies in relation to a local authority within the meaning of that Act.

(3)The prescribed fee shall be payable in the prescribed manner in respect of every requisition made under this section.

(4)Where a requisition is made to a registering authority under this section and the fee payable in respect of it is paid in accordance with subsection (3) above, the registering authority shall thereupon make the search required and shall issue an official certificate setting out the result of the search.

Compensation for non-registration or defective official search certificate

10 Compensation for non-registration or defective official search certificate

(1)Failure to register a local land charge in the appropriate local land charges register shall not affect the enforceability of the charge but where a person has purchased any land affected by a local land charge, then—

(a)in a case where a material personal search of the appropriate local land charges register was made in respect of the land in question before the relevant time, if at the time of the search the charge was in existence but not registered in that register; or

[F1(aa)in a case where the appropriate local land charges register is kept otherwise than in documentary form and a material personal search of that register was made in respect of the land in question before the relevant time, if the entitlement to search in that register conferred by section 8 above was not satisfied as mentioned in subsection (1A) of that section; or]

(b)in a case where a material official search of the appropriate local land charges register was made in respect of the land in question before the relevant time, if the charge was in existence at the time of the search but (whether registered or not) was not shown by the official search certificate as registered in that register,

the purchaser shall (subject to section 11(1) below) be entitled to compensation for any loss suffered by him [F2in consequence.]

(2)At any time when rules made under this Act make provision for local land charges registers to be divided into parts then, for the purposes of subsection (1) above—

(a)a search (whether personal or official) of a part or parts only of any such register shall not constitute a search of that register in relation to any local land charge registrable in a part of the register not searched; and

(b)a charge shall not be taken to be registered in the appropriate local land charges register unless registered in the appropriate part of the register.

(3)For the purposes of this section—

(a)a person purchases land where, for valuable consideration, he acquires any interest in land or the proceeds of sale of land, and this includes cases where he acquires as lessee or mortgagee and shall be treated as including cases where an interest is conveyed or assigned at his direction to another person;

(b)the relevant time—

(i)where the acquisition of the interest in question was preceded by a contract for its acquisition, other than a qualified liability contract, is the time when that contract was made;

(ii)in any other case, is the time when the purchaser acquired the interest in question or, if he acquired it under a disposition which took effect only when registered under the M1Land Registration Act 1925, the time when that disposition was made;

and for the purposes of sub-paragraph (i) above, a qualified liability contract is a contract containing a term the effect of which is to make the liability of the purchaser dependent upon, or avoidable by reference to, the outcome of a search for local land charges affecting the land to be purchased.

(c)a personal search is material if, but only if—

(i)it is made after the commencement of this Act, and

(ii)it is made by or on behalf of the purchaser or, before the relevant time, the purchaser or his agent has knowledge of the result of it;

(d)an official search is material if, but only if—

(i)it is made after the commencement of this Act, and

(ii)it is requisitioned by or on behalf of the purchaser or, before the relevant time, the purchaser or his agent has knowledge of the contents of the official search certificate.

(4)Any compensation for loss under this section shall be paid by the registering authority in whose area the land affected is situated; and where the purchaser has incurred expenditure for the purpose of obtaining compensation under this section, the amount of the compensation shall include the amount of the expenditure reasonably incurred by him for that purpose (so far as that expenditure would not otherwise fall to be treated as loss for which he is entitled to compensation under this section).

(5)Where any compensation for loss under this section is paid by a registering authority in respect of a local land charge as respects which they are not the originating authority, then, unless an application for registration of the charge was made to the registering authority by the originating authority in time for it to be practicable for the registering authority to avoid incurring liability to pay that compensation, an amount equal thereto shall be recoverable from the originating authority by the registering authority.