COVID-19 Update: Land Charges Service

Stratford-on-Avon District Council will not be accepting any NEW land charges applications until further notice.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, the District Council is constantly reviewing which services are being delivered and how they are delivered. A number of services have been temporarily suspended or are being delivered in a different way and others are being reviewed and resources are being targeted where they are most needed.

The Land Charges service is unable to be delivered remotely from the District Council offices, which means a reduction in staff capacity, so the District Council has taken the decision to temporarily suspend the acceptance of any NEW search requests (Official and Personal). The service is currently aiming to complete all those that are already in the system.

Cllr Anne Parry, Regulatory Portfolio Holder says: "Following Government advice we are having to make decisions on which services can be sustained during this public health emergency and which have to be temporary suspended. It is also important that we target resources where they are needed most.

"Government advice is that house moves are being temporarily suspended as people adhere to the social distancing advice, so we have taken the decision to receive no new land charge applications for now. This also gives the service time to catch up on the current workload when it will be reviewed again.

"We fully appreciate that any delays to the house purchasing and selling process is extremely frustrating for all parties involved and we apologise to customers for this temporary stoppage to progressing new applications.

"As soon as it is practically possible the service for new requests will be resumed and we extend our thanks for your understanding in this area, which is greatly appreciated during this unprecedented situation."