National award for council's Land Charges team

North Devon Council land charges team

North Devon Council has won the Best Performing NLIS Local Land Charges Department Award at the 2024 Land Data Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence. 

It is the seventh time the team has won the prestigious award since 2013, having last won in the category in 2022.

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 category won by the North Devon team focuses on local authorities using the National Land Information System, or NLIS – the largest provider of ‘official’ searches. The Excellence Awards judging panel reviewed data from the NLIS Hub to come to their final decision, including the speed searches are turned around, search accuracy and the level of overdue searches.

Land Charges Manager at North Devon Council, Rob Bates, says: "We are once again delighted that our hard work is recognised at a national level and to win for the seventh time in 11 years. Conveyancers who come to us direct can rely on a swift and accurate response to enable their housing transaction to move on swiftly and we look forward to continuing our high level of service."

Land Data’s Chief Executive, Fiona Barron, says: "The North Devon team clearly have excellent processes and highly efficient ways of working which mean they can respond to searches with speed and accuracy, all of which means quicker home moves for local residents. Well done to this outstanding team." 

The Excellence Awards are judged by representatives from Local Land Charges Institute, SearchFlow, The Coal Authority, HM Land Registry, the Law Society, Land Data and the National Land Information Service (NLIS). Over 150 nominations and entries for 69 different Local Authorities were submitted across the 7 categories by solicitors, licensed conveyancers, customer service experts and local land charges personnel. 

The winners and finalists were announced at an awards dinner hosted by comedian Markus Birdman in Derby.