The Local Authorities (England) (Charges for Property Searches) Regulations 2008

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, “access to property records” means access to property records granted by a local authority in any of the following ways—

(a)allowing a person to inspect or search property records at a place designated by the authority for doing so;

(b)allowing the making of or providing copies of, property records; or

(c)the electronic transmission of property records, or copies of such records,

and in these Regulations, the expression “access to property records” is to be construed accordingly.

(2) In these Regulations, a reference to a local authority “answering enquiries about a property” means—

(a)the answering by the authority of any specific oral or written enquiries from a person about a property or property records; or

(b)the carrying out by the authority of any activities for the purposes of answering such enquiries.

(3) In these Regulations—

“financial year” means a period of twelve consecutive months ending with 31st March;

“free statutory information” means information required to be provided by a local authority under an enactment, where that enactment expressly—

(a)

prohibits a local authority from making a charge for doing so; or

(b)

requires that the authority provides the information free of charge;

“local authority” means—

(a)

a county council;

(b)

a district council;

(c)

a London Borough Council;

(d)

the Common Council of the City of London; and

(e)

the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

“internal transaction” means the granting of access to property records by one department of a local authority to another department of that authority;

“property” means a specified building or structure or specified land in relation to which property records are held by a local authority;

“property records”—

(a)

includes documents, registers, files and archives (held in any form by the local authority), which relate to a property;

(b)

includes information derived from such documents, registers, files and archives; but

(c)

excludes the local land charges register kept under section 3(2) of the Local Land Charges Act 1975(1);

“request” includes a written, oral, electronic or automated request; and

“unit charge” means the charge described in regulation 6(2).