Welcome to the 2025 Virtual Training & Development Event. Thank you for joining this important annual development event in the local land charges calendar.
At a time when local authority budgets are under severe pressure, the Local Land Charges Institute and Land Data believe training remains essential for professional development and community building. This year’s online format allows for wider participation with reduced costs, while maintaining high-quality learning opportunities. Next year we hope you’ll be able to join us in person!
Looking ahead, the landscape of local land charges continues to evolve in response to national policy changes and local authority challenges. The recent government announcement on improving the home buying and selling process points to the critical role of authoritative data and local land charges practitioners in ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and transparency in property transactions. Faster and more accessible data will be at the heart of this transformation, giving local land charges officers a key role in delivering better outcomes for homebuyers, sellers, and the property market as a whole.
Yet further change is on the horizon with the devolution agenda set out in the recent White Paper. As local authorities navigate new governance structures and regional partnerships, the role of local land charges teams will continue to evolve. These shifts bring both challenges and opportunities, making it more important than ever for professionals in our field to stay informed, upskilled, and connected.
We are delighted to bring together expert speakers, industry updates and insightful discussions to this year’s event. Our programme features speakers from industry and central and local government; from the worlds of policy, programme delivery, governance and professional development. We aim to give you a national view of the issues affecting the home buying and selling sector, and an up-close inspection of the hands-on issues that matter now, including data ownership, data standards, risk management and upfront information, a theme picked up throughout the two days.
We’re really pleased our audience for this event is widening. We now welcome all local authority professionals working with spatial data including those in planning, highways and building control services. Not only do we work together daily to complete CON29 searches, but our futures are linked by the government’s digitisation programmes. For example, this year we’ll be hearing from the HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges Programme, as well as the Digital Planning Programme from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Whether you are new to local land charges or a seasoned professional, we are certain you will find the sessions insightful and beneficial in preparing for the changes ahead.
On with the event!
Rebekah Giubarelli & Richard Bateman
Co-Chairs, Local Land Charges Institute
Fiona Barron
CEO, Land Data
