Buying near a former landfill site

garyni

We've been searching for our 'forever' family home for over 5yrs now and finally found one which, on paper, ticked all the boxes (e.g. not under a flightpath, not isolated, not vastly overpriced, near to station/school, not on a floodplain or busy road etc) - It's been a real headache as very few properties that fit the bill come up for sale. It's costing us all our life savings but it does come with an acre of land and a beautiful view across an area of outstanding beauty. Our current home is under offer from a very keen buyer and the chain is complete. We're near to exchanging and my solicitor has just carried out the searches and apart from an amber warning about a mining cavity 25m off the north boundary no other issues were identified. However, by chance we were checking the surrounding area on Google Earth for the proximity of the local sewage treatment works when we noticed small circular depressions on nearby fields which we've found out to be gas wells and methane venting pipes. Further research uncovered a major landfill site used from the mid 60's until 1993 and restored in 1996. It apparently accepted all sorts of waste including industrial and hazardous types. The site was licensed from 1977 and was capped and has 30+ vents in the waste and 40 along the boundary with a gas flaring system in place (upgraded in 2010) and is frequently monitored. It may be that we're being overly worried about nothing as the boundary of the landfill site lies approx. 100m from the boundary of the house - The area between is fairly dense woodland so the site can't be seen from the house. From a distance it appears as a green field which is used for hay cropping with a large angling pond adjacent. As the house sits on a large plot it's another 80-90m away from the wooded area making about 200m in total from the actual landfill boundary. I'm interested to see if anyone else thinks we should be cautious or stop worrying unnecessarily as the issue is probably more of the perceived risks (health/land contamination etc) which could affect it future resale, rather than any actual physical problems. Incidentally, the current owners have been there 25yrs since they bought the land and built the house. They obviously haven't mentioned anything about the former landfill but I suspect they bought the land cheap at the time as the site would have only just closed down. I was going to make enquiries with the neighbouring house as it sold in 2013 (for similar money to what we're paying) but the owner lives in Singapore and only bought it as an investment. I'm also making further enquiries about the mining cavity as this lies somewhere in the woodland area between the boundary and the former landfill - Is it possible a mine could harbour methane gas over a period of time and might have the potential to explode? - Thanks in advance for any comments.

AdrianC

Yes, it's possible. Vanishingly unlikely, but possible.

And that's why that risk is mitigated by the vents and flaring system, and why it's being regularly monitored.

Would it put me off? <shrug> Given that your requirements have ruled out so many properties, and this one's otherwise ticking all your boxes, I'd probably have qualms and do a lot more research, but go ahead anyway. You aren't planning on moving again in the near future, so by the time the place does go back on the market, it'll be ancient history.

EmmyLou30

Our previous house was within 50m of an old landfill site...closed in the late 60's I think so goodness knows what went in there pre regulations! There were venting pipes all over the plot but other than that only proper old locals even knew it was ever there. I figured so long as my house wasn't on top of it I was fine with that. Never caused us any issue whatsoever and never affected the house prices of all the surrounding streets.


Since then houses have been built on the periphery of the site and a playground put on the top of the actual tip.


Only you can decide but if it ticks all the boxes I wouldn't personally let it put me off.

Brock_and_Roll

Would not put me off given all the other positives.

Only niggle would be the possibility of the site re-opening for "landfill mining" - these old 1960s/1970s sites are potentially lucrative and this is already being done in the Netherlands.

garyni

Thanks for the heads up on landfill mining (it's a new one on me) whilst it looks like a great concept I wouldn't want it going on a couple of hundred metres from my home. I'm guessing mining could also release dust/pollutants/noise unless properly controlled? - The site is owned by the local Council and is in an area which (ironically) is now designated as one of outstanding natural beauty. I would hope therefore it would never happen but on the other hand, as they say...where there's muck there's brass.