Buying a house for the first time & need help! Searches & Reports

user1977

cheme7676 said:

There isn't a way the solicitors could accidentally exchange the contract without consent right?

Of course they could accidentally do anything - they could accidentally exchange before they receive your signed docs, so not sending them the docs wouldn't really avoid that! But it's a bit of a weird thing to worry about. Just send them the signed docs so they're ready to go.

tooldle

Where in Swansea is the house, Port Tennant area? You mentioned a canal so this is my best guess, unless you are somewhere further to the north. Fendrod lake?
Its worth remembering,Coal Authority info is what has been recorded at the time and is not a cast iron guarantee. A few years back a mine shaft (previously unknown) opened in the garden of a property in Killay. I've lived in Swansea since 1988 and this is the only case i know of. 
Flooding does happen, mainly surface water. 

cheme7676

Jaybee_16 said:

To understand the mining situation, before moving to Wales I looked at this map

https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/coalauthority/home.html

Selecting the options on the top right shows redundant mine locations. 

Doesn't help your situation particularly but shows just how much of the UK is built over coal mines. 

I saw - didn't look ideal for Swansea 

cheme7676

user1977 said:

cheme7676 said:

There isn't a way the solicitors could accidentally exchange the contract without consent right?

Of course they could accidentally do anything - they could accidentally exchange before they receive your signed docs, so not sending them the docs wouldn't really avoid that! But it's a bit of a weird thing to worry about. Just send them the signed docs so they're ready to go.

Yeah I get that - I just didn't know whether it was something that could commonly happen as I haven't dealt with them. Putting pen to paper seemed quite irreversible to me despite them telling me it wasn't (provided an exchange didn't happen)

cheme7676

tooldle said:

Where in Swansea is the house, Port Tennant area? You mentioned a canal so this is my best guess, unless you are somewhere further to the north. Fendrod lake?
Its worth remembering,Coal Authority info is what has been recorded at the time and is not a cast iron guarantee. A few years back a mine shaft (previously unknown) opened in the garden of a property in Killay. I've lived in Swansea since 1988 and this is the only case i know of. 
Flooding does happen, mainly surface water. 

You hit the nail on the head. Bang on in the Port Tenant area! 

Oh wow, it's definitely something I need to look out for. Insurance premiums on the house don't look too bad but I will definitely look for something which protects for mining (subsidence) & floods. 

tooldle

I’ve seen surface water flooding on Fabian way draining into Port Tennant under the bridge near Mile End Inn. Coastal flooding though, I’m struggling to see how that would happen given the location of the docks and the river. Is this the new estate at the far end of Port Tennant or the SA1 development on the other side of Fabian Way? 

Does it help to have an idea of how historic mining activity in the area is? The below might help with context. Given the considerable amount of time that has passed, any issues would have likely shown themselves by now. I’m fairly certain the new house on the PT side are built on land previously occupied by the Carbon Black Plant, a famous polluter in the area, which closed sometime in the early 80’s. http://www.thehopkinthomasproject.com/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/Wales/Coal/CoalMining.htm

KiKi

cheme7676 said:

user1977 said:

cheme7676 said:

There isn't a way the solicitors could accidentally exchange the contract without consent right?

Of course they could accidentally do anything - they could accidentally exchange before they receive your signed docs, so not sending them the docs wouldn't really avoid that! But it's a bit of a weird thing to worry about. Just send them the signed docs so they're ready to go.

Yeah I get that - I just didn't know whether it was something that could commonly happen as I haven't dealt with them. Putting pen to paper seemed quite irreversible to me despite them telling me it wasn't (provided an exchange didn't happen)

Completely normal practice - you sign everything (and don't date it) and it sits with your solicitor until you consent to exchange.    At the point of exchange, they will even phone you to literally ask "do I have your consent to go ahead", even though they know full well you haven't changed your mind from a conversation you might have had an hour ago.  Nothing to worry about.  (Of course, an incompetent solicitor might do something silly and nothing can stop that, but what you're describing is normal practice.  If you're concerned for a particular reason, simply put on an email to them that you have sent them the signed contract and documents, but when it comes to exchange, you'd like them to get confirmation in writing on email from you first before going ahead.  That way you have an email trail should anything go wrong.)  HTH.

cheme7676

tooldle said:

I’ve seen surface water flooding on Fabian way draining into Port Tennant under the bridge near Mile End Inn. Coastal flooding though, I’m struggling to see how that would happen given the location of the docks and the river. Is this the new estate at the far end of Port Tennant or the SA1 development on the other side of Fabian Way? 

Does it help to have an idea of how historic mining activity in the area is? The below might help with context. Given the considerable amount of time that has passed, any issues would have likely shown themselves by now. I’m fairly certain the new house on the PT side are built on land previously occupied by the Carbon Black Plant, a famous polluter in the area, which closed sometime in the early 80’s. http://www.thehopkinthomasproject.com/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/Wales/Coal/CoalMining.htm

Thank you for your help again so far. I'm situated in the new(ish) build cul-de-sac on the PT side of Fabian Way (on the same side as the Mile End Inn). Is this the ground where the old carbon black plant was on?

In terms of that canal that feeds into a massive lake, according to the flood report has a 1/75 return to flood due to coastal purposes and 1/1000 return for surface. The lake is fed by the Tennant Canal, which begins close to the delta of River Neath. My blind guess is that given it's being fed by a source adjacent to the sea, the canal becomes more susceptible to coastal flooding? I'm not very sure on that one. In any case, the flooding report did not simulate that any flooding would reach my home from that canal.

Finally, the seller's solicitors did not have any CMRA to hand from the developers. However, my surveyor mentioned (as did yourself), that any significant issues will have been identified by now if there was a real problem. Also, given that the houses were constructed relatively recently, Taylor Wimpey would have (you would hope) studied any ground instability problems and factored this in. I've still opted for a RICS L2 as a safety net, if any structural damage did occur due to ground instability then I can identify it.

cheme7676

KiKi said:

cheme7676 said:

user1977 said:

cheme7676 said:

There isn't a way the solicitors could accidentally exchange the contract without consent right?

Of course they could accidentally do anything - they could accidentally exchange before they receive your signed docs, so not sending them the docs wouldn't really avoid that! But it's a bit of a weird thing to worry about. Just send them the signed docs so they're ready to go.

Yeah I get that - I just didn't know whether it was something that could commonly happen as I haven't dealt with them. Putting pen to paper seemed quite irreversible to me despite them telling me it wasn't (provided an exchange didn't happen)

Completely normal practice - you sign everything (and don't date it) and it sits with your solicitor until you consent to exchange.    At the point of exchange, they will even phone you to literally ask "do I have your consent to go ahead", even though they know full well you haven't changed your mind from a conversation you might have had an hour ago.  Nothing to worry about.  (Of course, an incompetent solicitor might do something silly and nothing can stop that, but what you're describing is normal practice.  If you're concerned for a particular reason, simply put on an email to them that you have sent them the signed contract and documents, but when it comes to exchange, you'd like them to get confirmation in writing on email from you first before going ahead.  That way you have an email trail should anything go wrong.)  HTH.

Thank you for describing, it's good to learn all these things! I've now signed the documents and will be handing them over to the solicitors now. They're pretty good so I don't expect them to mess it up but will send an email to stay covered. I'm still waiting for a surveyor and will need to have an additional viewing - where this time I can inspect a lot more thoroughly.

tooldle

cheme7676 said:

tooldle said:

I’ve seen surface water flooding on Fabian way draining into Port Tennant under the bridge near Mile End Inn. Coastal flooding though, I’m struggling to see how that would happen given the location of the docks and the river. Is this the new estate at the far end of Port Tennant or the SA1 development on the other side of Fabian Way? 

Does it help to have an idea of how historic mining activity in the area is? The below might help with context. Given the considerable amount of time that has passed, any issues would have likely shown themselves by now. I’m fairly certain the new house on the PT side are built on land previously occupied by the Carbon Black Plant, a famous polluter in the area, which closed sometime in the early 80’s. http://www.thehopkinthomasproject.com/TheHopkinThomasProject/TimeLine/Wales/Coal/CoalMining.htm

Thank you for your help again so far. I'm situated in the new(ish) build cul-de-sac on the PT side of Fabian Way (on the same side as the Mile End Inn). Is this the ground where the old carbon black plant was on?

In terms of that canal that feeds into a massive lake, according to the flood report has a 1/75 return to flood due to coastal purposes and 1/1000 return for surface. The lake is fed by the Tennant Canal, which begins close to the delta of River Neath. My blind guess is that given it's being fed by a source adjacent to the sea, the canal becomes more susceptible to coastal flooding? I'm not very sure on that one. In any case, the flooding report did not simulate that any flooding would reach my home from that canal.

Finally, the seller's solicitors did not have any CMRA to hand from the developers. However, my surveyor mentioned (as did yourself), that any significant issues will have been identified by now if there was a real problem. Also, given that the houses were constructed relatively recently, Taylor Wimpey would have (you would hope) studied any ground instability problems and factored this in. I've still opted for a RICS L2 as a safety net, if any structural damage did occur due to ground instability then I can identify it.

The Port Tennant Canal runs up to Aberdulais, where it joins the Neath Canal. Where is the lake you mention? I thought the canal emptied / terminated into the docks (Prince of Wales or Kings Dock perhaps).
There is some info here from the council on the Port Tennant Canal. Tennant Canal - Swansea
To answer your other question, yes i believe the house you are purchasing is built on part of the Carbon Black Factory site. It was quite large, the now playing field also being part of it.