Common Land Searches

Buying Common Land
If you are planning to buy a piece of land, you may need to carry out a search of the Register of Common Land & Village Greens to ensure that there are no rights of commons attached to the land.

The Common Land and Village Green Registers
As a Commons Registration Authority, we are responsible for maintaining the Registers of Common Land and Village Greens. This register is a statutory document (Commons Registration Act, 1965) and shows all such registered land in our area.

The register lists all units of Common Land / Village Greens in three parts:

Part 1 Describes the land and its boundaries, details the date it became common land or a village green, and who registered it.
Part 2 Details who has common rights over the land and what those rights are, for example, sheep or cattle grazing, the right to remove gravel and stone.
Part 3 Details who owns the land (if registered).

If you are planning to buy a piece of land, you can:
Submit a search on form *CR21 to the authority, along with plans of the site. If you are not using a solicitor, you will find the forms in law stationers. Please submit duplicate copies of both documents, along with the £14 search fee.

The certificate you will receive as a result of the submitted search will show any entries in the different parts of the register.

For more detailed information on common land go to "Common land explained".

Please submit your Common Land Search to:

Local Land Charges Office
Civic Centre
Southampton
Hampshire
SO14 7LY

Remember to include:

form *CR 21 in duplicate
two plans of the land
the search fee of £14

*available from law stationers