Contaminated Land

AlexMac

Don't panic.

This is another one of these "money for old rope" irritants which solicitors and lenders stoke up in these "risk averse to the point of paranoia" days. Solvable for about £50-100.

When our kids last bought in 2011, a "Groundsure Homescreen" environmental search comissioned by the solicitor passed all the usual hurdles but threw up a similar evidence of a "historic tank" nearby.

So in effect it 'failed' the search, leaving the lender with a smidgeon of doubt that they could sell fast in the extremely unlikely event that our kids defaulted and they had to re-possess.

Turned out there were two solutions:
1. In the words of the report authors, Groundsure; that they should
“Contact the Contaminated Land Officer within the Environmental Health Department of the local authority to confirm that they are aware of the past use of the area and have not identified the study site or any surrounding sites as 'Contaminated Land' (as defined under Part IIA of EPA 1990), or are not considering any further action against the study site or any surrounding sites (either informally or formally) under this legislation. If the Local Authority are considering further action it may be prudent to establish the level of priority assigned to this site”. Once we have this information, the report authors will revise the report to a ‘Pass’ on environmental grounds if appropriate. The Council wanted £47 and several weeks to formally reply; after all, the Contamniated Land Officer has to earn a crust! Groundsure would hopefully then revise weeks later (for another fee?)

or alternatively
2. To take out a fifty quid indemnity, taking a couple of minutes ; which they did (and no, we didn't ask if the solicitor gets a referral fee; hush yo' mouth!)

So absolute billicks; espacially as the tank had merely been a small central heating fuel store for a long demolished Council Residential Home.

But they had to stump up; I hope yours is as fast and relatively cheap to solve. Sometimes I liken these parasites to the occasional rogue firemen who light fires for the glory of putting 'em out.

I was brough up near the Oval, went to school overlooking the cricket ground and don't have webbed feet.

And near us, they have built the Greenwich Millenium Village, not to mentioan the Dome, on cleared land which was historically a toxic industrial dump, full of heavy metals and unexploded ordnance dating form the days of Henry VII's shipyards to the 20th Century munitions factories of the Royal Arsenal

audigex

Note that "Contaminated" doesn't necessarily mean "radioactive", and in the case of a garage likely isn't an issue unless you're intending to grow crops on it... a bit of diesel seepage isn't likely to do you much harm in your second floor flat.