Contaminated Land

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I guess the first question is "What sort of contamination?"

Usually won't be that specific, sometimes it is generic, for example if you are in an ex coal mining area, then it would be common to just say that there is the possibility of contaminated land and also mining activity, even though there wasn't any specifically in the area in question.

Exactly that happened to a friend of mines Mum about 15 years ago. The houses were built after the war and the tenants were obviously encouraged to grow their own veg. Well about 15 years ago it was discovered that the ground was contaminated, they came and dug something like 4 feet of soil out of everyones garden and the neighbouring park and replaced it with fresh.
But as suggested earlier some of this reporting is becoming a catch all. for example if you live in a n area of historic industry.

k_1982 wrote: »

Hi, Around 2 and half months ago we put an offer on a house and decided to proceed. Got Mortgage approved as well as Searches done. One of the environmental Search result came back as "High Potential Risk" on a contaminated land. Please note the whole development is only 13years old so I assumed it must have been dealt properly.
On asking Solicitors to advise on this contamination issue, they said they have asked seller's solicitor for more details but it seems seller' solicitor has been extremely slow (may be intentionally). As 2 and half months past, and me consistently chasing no answers yet. This has given me doubts about it, although I like the property but I just wonder if it's right decision to go ahead with the purchase ? and this contamination issue, could it devalue the property and make it difficult to sell in future ? obviously i feel bad equally if I walk out from the purchase after this time ? Any thoughts/suggestions please

It isn't unusual to have a contamination flag on land when the searches are carried out. In my district, there are five figures of potentially contaminated land that are flagged for various reasons. It does not mean that they are contaminated at all and most will not be. Our LA says that if it's flagged but hasn't been assessed already then it isn't a major concern. A lot of houses fall within a radius of something that would never affect the land the house is on, but it just falls in the area.

If your estate is 13 years old then the planning history for the site should be available. Major developers are usually required to submit contamination reports and soil analysis alongside their applications. That can usual dismiss the issue, but any actual issues then have to be addressed by removing an appropriate layer of soil. It is usually put into the planning approval as a condition to be discharged before building begins. I doubt that the search information is updated after that point. It probably just remains as a potential flag for future reference.

We have that condition on our small site. I've had people out making bore holes in the last couple of weeks on our land, far deeper than any potential contamination would go. The analysis is thorough.

You can speak to planning or land charges at your LA. Information available should be available to allay your fears faster than your vendor's solicitor can. It is highly, highly unlikely that there is any kind of problem.

You search maps should flag where and what the potential problem could be. Often landfill - which rarely means household rubbish, can mean brick works when the Victorians would fire on site of large developments, though you never know with modern major developers :roll eyes: