What do you think about this?

CaptainC_2

First of all, hello peeps, I have been lurking around for a while and have saved some money using some if the tips on here so cheers all.

Anyway the reason for my post is this. We (me and my girlfriend) have been to view a house that we would really like to buy and we are going for a 2nd viewing tomorrow.

On our first viewing we had a good look around the immediate area and noticed that there were what look like 4 tubes sticking out of the ground forming a rectangle (2 on the same side of the road as the house and 2 across the road). The tubes are about 8" in diameter and about 6 foot high. So assuming that they were vents of some sort I contacted the local council who inform me that they could be vents to vent landfill gas. The council couldn't be certain about this has the people I would need to talk to are on holiday.

Now this is my problem.....

We were going to make an offer on the house before we discovered what the vents were (could be), but now I aren't too sure. Do you think that I should be too worried about the vents? I assume that the original builders (the house is 5 years old) would have made sure that what they vent is safe but who knows? I know that there is another couple who are also interested in the property and are also viewing it tomorrow so I would like to try and get an offer in sooner rather than later to avoid missing out on the house.

Sorry for the long post,
Cheers guys,
Chris

Ian_W

Aye, Aye Captain!
I'd have thought it was venting for Methane and possibly CO2. I think the regs for building on or near landfill are fairly stringent these days and given the Govt's aim to redevelop Brownfield sites as a priority many more developments are going to be on them.
I'm not sure I'd be overly happy but you will have the residue of the 10year NHBC warranty for a fairly new house.
You might also want to read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill_in_the_UK
and if you know the postcode for the property you may find info on the Environment Agencies website at:
https://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/maps/

I'd probably ask an innocent question [ie: as if you're completely clueless about what they might be] about the vents and if the vendor doesn't mention the words landfill and methane in the answer, I'd be legging it.

BoL and let us know how you go on.

CaptainC_2

Hello Ian,

Thanks for the reply.

After spending all day yesterday thinking about what I should do, and then reading your reply as well as talking to a friend who has worked for an environmental/health and safety company for many years I decided that there is probably more risk from the car fumes being spat out of cars going past. So I made an offer after going to see it again this morning, and it was accepted. So I will get my solicitor to get the searches sorted and make sure he gets an environmental search done. If it throws something up then my friend says that he may be able to sort out a more thorough test of the area, cost unknown yet though

Cheers,
Chris