FTB - Contaminated Land Advice

xmodz

Good Morning All,

I'm a first time buyer in Manchester and would like some advice, the environmental search has shown two things

1. Land is contaminated due to it being a Refuse Heap site over 100 years ago. 
The solicitors have given me three options

• Walk Away

• Get the seller to get an indemnity policy

• Further Investigations

I'm leaning towards getting the indemnity policy but the questions I have are 

• How difficult will it be to get a mortgage at this stage and at re-mortgaging stage
• Seeing as it is a over 100 years, how likely do you think the contamination will be there, any health side effects I should be aware off. 
• Would this effect house value when going to sell?

2. Before the refuse heap there was a coilery there which closed around 130 years ago. 

• I have checked the property for any visual cracks and couldn't find any
• I have scheduled a survey for next week, but don't want to waste money if Land contamination is going to cause me a lot of problems and would rather cancel.
• There is also a mining cavity over 170m away, will this cause any issues?

TIA



- 

AdrianC

When was the house built?
If even vaguely recently, then the planning and BR side of things will have covered de-contamination.
If longer ago, any ill effects of contamination will have become obvious by now.

What will an indemnity policy actually cover?
(Clue: Not the costs of cleaning the land...)

I presume this house does not sit in splendid isolation - so how well do other houses in the immediate area sell?

xmodz

AdrianC said:

When was the house built?
If even vaguely recently, then the planning and BR side of things will have covered de-contamination.
If longer ago, any ill effects of contamination will have become obvious by now.

What will an indemnity policy actually cover?
(Clue: Not the costs of cleaning the land...)

I presume this house does not sit in splendid isolation - so how well do other houses in the immediate area sell?

The house was built around 1945.

Indemnity Policy (thank you, will need to check what it will cover)

Two doors away was sold two years ago, about 10 houses have sold over the last 10 years on the street.

Doozergirl

I had a conversation with Land Charges department at my local authority years ago. 

They said that there are so many potential
contaminated areas flagged in any area that it would take years and years to go around them all, but if there were genuine concerns they'd have been addressed already.  That was 15 years ago.  

AdrianC

xmodz said:

AdrianC said:

When was the house built?
If even vaguely recently, then the planning and BR side of things will have covered de-contamination.
If longer ago, any ill effects of contamination will have become obvious by now.

What will an indemnity policy actually cover?
(Clue: Not the costs of cleaning the land...)

I presume this house does not sit in splendid isolation - so how well do other houses in the immediate area sell?

The house was built around 1945.

So what's the record on health effects in the area in the 75 years since?

Two doors away was sold two years ago, about 10 houses have sold over the last 10 years on the street.

That answers your saleability question.

xmodz

Doozergirl said:

I had a conversation with Land Charges department at my local authority years ago. 

They said that there are so many potential
contaminated areas flagged in any area that it would take years and years to go around them all, but if there were genuine concerns they'd have been addressed already.  That was 15 years ago.  

I guess they would have checked it then being nearly over a 100 years old then. 

davidmcn

xmodz said:

Good Morning All,

I'm a first time buyer in Manchester and would like some advice, the environmental search has shown two things

1. Land is contaminated due to it being a Refuse Heap site over 100 years ago. 

I'm sure the search doesn't say it is contaminated, just that it might be. All they are doing is looking at old maps for past uses which could potentially have left contamination, they have no idea what's actually in the ground.

If there were any adverse consequences, why have they not made themselves known in the past 76 years of residential use?

xmodz

how would I be able to check Health records


In terms of Saleability, not all properties look to be on the contaminated land. but the house two doors away is not on contaminated land. 


Correction*** It does say might not is. Thats what I was thinking, my biggest concern is the mortgage really, both initial and mortgaging. 

davidmcn

Mortgage lenders typically don't even want environmental surveys, they're only going to care if the property is actually registered as contaminated land (or if their valuer raises particular concerns).

Unless the Victorians were dumping particularly nasty chemicals there, I can't see much to worry about. Something like a more modern refuse site might still be producing methane, for example, which can be a problem if it isn't flowing away somewhere safe.

xmodz

will the coilery there which closed around 130 years ago have any effect on the mortgage. Report goes no claims have been received since 1994, which is when the Coal authority was opened up. 

davidmcn

Any mine shafts close to the property? If not then generally nothing to worry about. Obviously prices already reflect that it's generally in an old coal mining area. Compensation from the government if there's ever damage caused by old coal mine workings anyway.