Highly commended for local land charges team in national awards
Dudley’s local land charges team has been nationally recognised for its outstanding service.
The team was ‘highly commended’ in the Local Authority Searches Team of the Year Award category at the 2022 Land Data Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence.
The national awards recognise the work and achievements of local authority local land charges departments, which carry out the land and property searches required for conveyancing transactions in England and Wales.
The searches identify whether there are any legal restrictions affecting land or property, as well as information on any planning issues.
More detailed searches include checks on tree preservation orders, responsibility for any road maintenance, rights of way, compulsory purchase orders and whether a property falls within a contaminated area of land.
Councillor Steve Clark, cabinet member for finance and legal services, said:
Congratulations to everyone in the team for achieving highly commended at these prestigious national awards.
We’re extremely proud of them all and of the excellent service they provide for the home-buying process, ensuring people have the information they need to make important decisions about their future.
The team of the year category looks for local land charges teams who can demonstrate highly effective team working, continuity of service, high levels of fully completed searches and consistently high turnaround times.
Peter Audin, president of the Local Land Charges Institute said:
Dudley Council demonstrated high levels of team working, collaboration, resilience and an agile approach to problem solving.
This is a tough category and the team at Dudley really impressed us with their ability to deliver at a consistently high level.
The Land Data Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence are the only national awards for the Local Land Charges profession.