other side's solicitor says environmental survey is not good..

Deals_2

we are in the process of selling our house and the other party's solicitor has come back saying that the environment search is not good and has recommended that the buyers put their survey on hold or if i understand even pull out etc. however we know of others next to us who have bought and not seem affected by this. they say it is something to do with landfills but i have never been aware of any landfills and we are in a really nice part of the world in a very tidy upmarketish close! any ideas appreciated. the estate agent is trying to get a copy of the document.

lynzpower

Well it could be one of 2 things

1) the property is built on an ex- landfill site
2) the property is somewhere in the vicinity of a landfill site.

is there a landfill site nearby you know of?

My flat was built on a brownfield site - the old french connection factory. It bothered my buyer a bit, but then find a nb flat in london thats not built on a pre-used site and Ill give you a gold star!

Deals_2

landfill site. what i dont understand is why would something like this come up now and not when i bought the property 5 years ago also. is there anyway i can check what is what on a website myself? thanks in advance.

lynzpower wrote: »

Well it could be one of 2 things

1) the property is built on an ex- landfill site
2) the property is somewhere in the vicinity of a landfill site.

is there a landfill site nearby you know of?

My flat was built on a brownfield site - the old french connection factory. It bothered my buyer a bit, but then find a nb flat in london thats not built on a pre-used site and Ill give you a gold star!

jonewer

Can I ask, what is the problem with ex-landfil sites?

missimaxo

Have you tried a search on here:

http://www.homecheck.co.uk/Welcome.do;jsessionid=E4AFCEFCC2182EFC5D0007A9EA2E6DB4

As recommended in this article:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/free-house-prices#insurance

May give you something?

poppy10_2

jonewer wrote: »

Can I ask, what is the problem with ex-landfil sites?

Would you want to live on top of a pile of festering rubbish?

jonewer

poppy10 wrote: »

Would you want to live on top of a pile of festering rubbish?

Isnt it all compacted down and covered with earth and has grass growing on it?

Are there subsidence risks?

Deals_2

will now try the council

poppy10 wrote: »

Would you want to live on top of a pile of festering rubbish?

Deals_2

will now try the council. just called up the pollution section who say can let me know within the next 7-10 days (apparently they have to look this up and am told not any faster to go there in person though i might just do that anyway). the locals who have been here all these years are not awar eof anything like this either. anyone know of a quicker way of researching this ourselves? i imagine with all of these new recycling laws that there are new things cropping up with regard to landfills that did not exist 5 years ago when we bought. but then shouldn't the solicitors who did the work for us make us aware of this too? would you contact our previous solicitors to find out?can we take this up with them?[/quote]

flea72

the problem with houses being built over landfill sites, is that methane can be a problem, but this should have been allowed for in the building of the properties.

the main concern now adays though, is no-one knows what was previously buried there, and can therefore not make any allowances for this in the construction process. the same with houses built on brownfield sites, no-one will ever know what chemicals, etc. were disposed of onsite, there are only so many tests that can done. also areas of land that were bombed during the war, again have contamination to a degree, its just depends on how you view things, and how it will affect your decision to buy properties there.

put it this way, there is a very upmarket housing estate that went up in my area, on land that was previously a quarry. no-one local would ever touch those houses with a barge-pole as we know the rough history of the land (and what we do know, doesnt put it in a good light, so we all assume that alots happened there, we dont know about iyswim). every single house was bought up by out of towners, who have no idea what time bomb they are living on. ok, the land may be fine, but you never know.

at least you know there may be a problem with the land, and can find out what action was taken at development stage. no-one ever knows what went on, on the land under their house. its just a calculated risk

Flea

mrs_deadline

This must be very upsetting but try and stay calm until you have all the facts. It's going to be far easier to let the experts track down the details even if it takes them 10 days.

Most people aren't particularly worried about latent environmental problems. I would assume that as long as there's no structural damage, no eyesores and no nasty smells and your house is insured on normal terms, it's unlikely to be insurmountable.