Local Land Charges were created by the Land Charges Act 1925, which has now been replaced by the Local Land Charges Act of 1975 and the Rules of 1977. Every Metropolitan, City, Unitary and District Council in England and Wales are required by law to keep a Register of Local Land Charges.

The act was introduced to ensure that purchasers of land and property were aware of any obligations that are enforceable against successive owners by local authorities under various statutes.

A Local Land Charge is a: -

• Restriction/prohibition on land/property or a financial charge,
• Binding on successive owners or occupiers,
• Normally a creation of statute.

The Local Land Charges register comprises of twelve parts as follows: -

• Part 1 - General Financial Charges
• Part 2 - Specific Financial Charges
• Part 3 - Planning Charges
• Part 4 - Miscellaneous Charges
• Part 5 - Fenland Ways Maintenance Charges
• Part 6 - Land Compensation Charges
• Part 7 - New Towns Charges
• Part 8 - Civil Aviation Charges
• Part 9 - Opencast Coal Charges
• Part 10 - Listed Building Charges
• Part 11 - Light Obstruction Charges
• Part 12 - Drainage Scheme Charges

Local Land Charges originate from various sources within the council (Planning, Legal etc.) and also originate from external sources such as, water authorities, highway agency, county councils etc. Part 11 charges are the only charges that can be created from members of the public.

Listed below are some common charges that appear on the Local Land Charges Register: -

• Dangerous structures
• Enforcement notices
• Listed buildings
• Closing orders
• Housing grants
• Highway agreement
• Planning conditions
• Tree preservation orders
• Financial charges
• Conservation orders
• Planning obligations
• Ancient monuments