Mid Devon District Council’s Land Charges team has been awarded Gold Standard for its exceptional local land charges data management.

The council was assessed by HM Land Registry as delivering the very best service levels during 2025 and awarded the accolade this month.

The Land Charges team, of Peter Whateley and Diane Carne, is responsible for preparing local authority searches for solicitors and conveyancers acting on behalf of clients looking to buy, lease or re-mortgage a property, or a piece of land. The searches they conduct identify whether there are any legal restrictions affecting land or property, upon which completion of a sale would be binding, such as conditions imposed on planning permissions, conservation areas and listed buildings status. More detailed searches include other pending matters such as tree preservation orders, responsibility for any road maintenance, parking restrictions, compulsory purchase orders and whether a property falls within a contaminated area of land.

This year HM Land Registry introduced a categorisation system with local authorities deemed to have excellent land search data management awarded gold status, which is publicly recognised on GOV.UK in a ‘status’ column which is updated quarterly.

The achievement marks another successful year for the Council’s Land Charges team, which has previously won national awards in the Land Data Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence.

Cllr Matt Fletcher, Cabinet Member for People and Development, said: "Congratulations to our Land Charges team which has once again been recognised for providing an excellent service to our customers. For many years the team has been awarded accolades by national bodies, recognising their hard work and commitment to providing an excellent service and now this is clear for all of our customers to see. There are many aspects of work in the Council which goes unseen, so to receive something publicly is very welcome.”

The Council is now permitted to use a specially designed gold banner on correspondence and its web pages, as long as current performance levels and commitment to excellence is maintained.