Failed search for former petrol station within 25m

DDD_99

Hi all,

I'm after some advice please regarding a failed search for my London leasehold purchase. The search failed for former industrial land use within 25m of the property. This specifically was a small petrol station that closed in the very early 2000s and is now a retail unit.

To be clear, the specific land my property is on and where this old petrol station is, has not been declared as contaminated, but obviously the risk is it could be declared as contaminated in the future.

The seller's solicitor advised they have no evidence to provide which would mitigate the risk. They suggested an indemnity policy or getting our own evidence that would mitigate the contamination risk. I have gone back asking why the seller doesn't have an existing indemnity policy but waiting to hear back. Maybe their search didn't flag this issue or maybe they do have some evidence?

The flat I'm buying was built in 2001/2002. The petrol station existed before this so the developer would have been aware of it and should have done their due diligence to ensure the land the flat was being built on was safe. For this reason, I'm slightly leaning towards with just going with the indemnity policy rather than digging further.

I have looked at the public planning records. Unfortunately there are no documents for the planning application for the flat which could have detailed what measures they took to check for contamination.

I did however find an approved application in 2011 for a contaminated land investigation by the company who turned the space the petrol station was located, into a retail unit. I don't have any details more than that but there have been several different retailers open in that space over the years so I assume the land was given the all clear.

Given the above, does anyone have any advice on the route I should take? Also worth noting that my lender is happy to proceed if I am. They don't have any specific requirements.

Thanks.

user1977

An indemnity policy is the best you're reasonably going to get (assuming nobody is going to let you drill into the ground to take samples for analysis). If the petrol station site itself went through planning in 2011 I'd be reasonably comfortable they'd have checked and dealt with any apparent contamination at the time. Not particularly relevant that the seller doesn't already have indemnity cover, I'd expect many people would just take a view (or not have bothered with the desktop search).

DDD_99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82166564#Comment_82166564

Thanks for the reply. What about going to the local council for extra information that could shed more light? I guess the risk of that is if they can't provide anything, I can no longer get the idemnity policy and the only option left would be to get the ground samples which would be expensive and time consuming I assume.

gwynlas

I owned a flat on the site of a former petrol station in Southwark, one developer had bought a number of these sites. During developent there was extensive clearing and decontamination accompanied by the appropriate paperwork.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82166573#Comment_82166573

Which council department? I doubt they will have anything beyond whatever was among the planning papers for the petrol station redevelopment. If "your" flat dates from 2001 it's possible there were surveys for contamination at the time, though it might not give you much comfort if the petrol station was still operating then.

Herzlos

What's your concern, that you won't be able to sell it later? Or that it'll need invasive inspections or something?

If the petrol station was demolished and rebuilt as retail then any contamination will likely have been dealt with at the time.

BridgetTheCat

Which council department? 

Trading Standards - the Petroleum Officer. There are strict regulations about decommissioning disused underground tanks and its done under supervision. There will be records of what happened which you can request for a nominal fee. I can’t remember if you can do it yourself or if you need to go through a solicitor.

These days tanks are usually taken out of the ground. If they were left in they should have been emptied of fuel and filled with an inert material.