Environmental search result

menollyke

I am just wondering if anyone can shed a light. We have just heard from our solicitor that there the search identified the existence of former unknown filled ground within 25m of the property. Therefore there might be contamination. They have tried to get a clear certificate twice now, but both times the result has been no clear certificate. The RPS does mention some additionally searches, but no guarentee.

solicitor has sent the full report over in the post, but for the moment she only emailed part of it. They have mentioned that they have asked the sellers solicitor to contact the Local council for more information, however they have refused. Now they are enquiring about indemnity insurance against it and the possibility of asking for more information making the indemnity insurance invalid. They are holding off on anything till they have an answer on the indemnity insurance.

I am unsure what this no clear certificate means? It is a street with houses, no industrial use in the area. There is industrial use within 250 meters. Is this from the past? How do they get a clear certificate? How difficult is it to obtain if things are going like this? Solicitors do mention that mortgage provider might not lend even though there is an indemnity policy.

Is there anyone here who has a bit more information about a situation like this? I don't quite understand it. I do know another house has sold 2 doors down in december 2011, so it hasn't stopped houses from selling by the sounds of it. However the way the solicitor is wording it, it might mean no mortgage and it might mean the ground is contaminated.

eym

Hi

I bought a house within 100m of possibly contaminated filled land a few years ago. In my case it was just that my house was on the edge of what used to be an old brick works that was filled in the early 20th century and thus there were no records on what it was filled with.

I spoke to the council who told me that in the area I was looking to buy there were hundreds of houses within reach of possibly 'contaminated' land and no evidence of any real land contamination in the area.

It would be worth speaking to the council yourself as they may have more detail. You could also look at old ordnance survey maps to see if you could identify what the land was used for in the past.

dibbydoos

Hi, sometimes searches don't pick up everything. We bought on a new estate and only 2 solicitors mentioned filled land - ours being one of them. When I investigated (I am an environment professional) I found that top soil from a housing estate had been imported to level the site c1960, so sometimes the info in the search is not good either ie in our case what contamination does it have?I think someone will have just put the fill land issue into the database to be 'on the safe side'.

If the council won't help with more information, you could ask to go and see their records - they are publicly available. They should have the British Geological Survey for the area which will have historical info on it - although not detailed, it will say if it was a landfill or other industrial; use that may have caused contamination.

Alos go onto the Environment Agency website, click on At Home and Leisure and click on 'What's in Your Backyard' -you select an issue and put your postcode in.

If all else fails, I would suggest insure as the best option as it allows the sale of the house to go through and both parties are happy - I don;t think it typically costs a lot either when compared to the cost of not selling or buying a house.

Good luck!

Richard_Webster

When was it filled? If 100 years ago then whilst the properties actually on the landfill might suffer from subsidence it is unlikely that any methane will be leaking now. If a lot more recent then it might be a concern.

We are forever getting this kind of thing because the searches are done by looking at old OS maps which basically show a hole in the ground which in the next map a few years later gets bigger and then the next edition shows it filled and that is often all the information there is. Very commonly the locals wonder what all the fuss is. All the Council can often say is that they have never had any complaints or problems, but of course that does not mean that there is no contamination.

Prior to the 1980s (or later) Planning Authorities did not routinely impose conditions requiring soil survey and that recommended remediation measures be carried out so there are loads of 1960s/70s estates built on brownfield sites with these kinds of entries.

menollyke

I have a little more information at the moment. Our house was build somewhere around the 60's, our vendors bought the house is 1967, but they didn't buy new build. across the street are some semi's build around the same time. No idea when the filling of the land took place, no indication as to when this was. There is no sign of subsidence in the property. According to the environmental site there is no landfill, that was placed somewhere else. However somehow there was some unknown filled.

Solicitor thinks seller should pay for investigation if there would be any, however they don't want to. They are already lucky we are proceeding, because they have placed the sink over the electric mains and therefore have created a dangerous situation which we have to fix before moving in. Again vendor unwilling to do anything. Getting quite cross with them, house has only been on market since the begining of the year, but they moved out almost 2 years ago.

We are now awaiting for the lender to say if they are ok with an idemnity. If they are we shouldn't investigate at all, because it will make a indemnity insurance invalid and most likely they are not finding out anything and no clear result can be given.

Didn't think it could be this stressfull. We have a few days to think about it.

[Deleted User]

I took out an insurance policy to cover my mortgage lender.

mishmogs

As previously said, it could be something quite innoculous but it could also be pretty bad.

The sellers are not being very co-operative are they? You would think they would want to sell and meet you half way but I guess they think now you have spent all this money, you will not pull out now.

A number of year ago, it was discovered that an open space, about 20 miles from me (thankfully) was contaminated from cows which had been tested on in WWII and subsequently buried there. The whole are was cleared and replaced. I certainly did not fancy buying a property built on or near this area.

Whilst environment searches are a pain, they are worthwhile. If there a local history group you could contact? Its a long shot but may give you some additional information.

Aaron

You mention RPS. That would be the search company, would it? RPS Group, the lot who do environmental planning for oil and gas companies and plan to build a gherkin-shaped tower block on top of St Pauls, a neighbourhood in inner city Bristol. So would an environmental certificate from that bunch of jokers make any difference to anything?