How do I find out about hazards like power cables etc before I move in?

londonman81

I'm looking to rent a room in a flat for around 6 months initially.

I would like to know where I can find out about potential hazards in the area surrounding any potential flat.

I have seen a flat that I like bu there is a factory nearby and also some cables a few hundred meters further down.

So I need to know where I can find out if these are actually power cables and also any other hazards plus pollution levels etc.

Any pointers would help greatly.

Thanks

L

Doozergirl

Not heard of someone trying to do this on a rental property before.

When buying a property, the first thing your solicitor does is carry out Local Authority searches. These do exactly what you're asking for. They will inform you of different types of pollutants and their levels in the area, whether the property is on a floodplain etc.

There's no reason why you can't ask someone to do this for you but it costs! Our solicitor charges £220 for searches - most of this is what they are charged by the Authorities though, so I don't think you can get round the cost aspect at all.

The possibility is that the landlord will still have copies of the searches from when they bought the property - maybe they will let you see. (They may be out of date though - things may have change, but on the other hand may not have).

Someone else may know better than I.

Lemoncurd

You can arrange your own environmental search through the Environment Agency website http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ - think it costs around £40. Not sure if that would give you the information you want though.

hopefulfooluk

For what it's worth, electromagnetic fields around the large 400,000 volt pylons (the biggest pylons you see) extend for about 200m around the cables themselves, and after that distance the effects are absolutely negligable. So I don't know how far they are away, but if they're over 200m away, you've not got anything to worry about really other than the eyesore that they pose.

libra10

If you visit

http://www.homecheck.co.uk/hcf/Welcome.do;jsessionid=74476C24F000E1F06DBEB8C5C11257F8

and type in the postcode of the property, lots of information is listed about the local area and environment. Risks such as flooding, radon, subsidence, polution and local issues, including crime rates etc. are detailed.

It's a really useful website.

Good luck

londonman81

hopefulfooluk wrote:

For what it's worth, electromagnetic fields around the large 400,000 volt pylons (the biggest pylons you see) extend for about 200m around the cables themselves, and after that distance the effects are absolutely negligable. So I don't know how far they are away, but if they're over 200m away, you've not got anything to worry about really other than the eyesore that they pose.

I seem to have heard quite differently - I've heard that being anywhere within 2 miles is very risky....

I've no idea who to believe on this matter and I think that there are a lot of companies and politicians with vested interests who don't want the public to get to the bottom of the issue. JUst like is the case with the safety of mobile phones etc.

londonman81

libra10 wrote:

If you visit

http://www.homecheck.co.uk/hcf/Welcome.do;jsessionid=74476C24F000E1F06DBEB8C5C11257F8

and type in the postcode of the property, lots of information is listed about the local area and environment. Risks such as flooding, radon, subsidence, polution and local issues, including crime rates etc. are detailed.

It's a really useful website.

Good luck

It seems like that website doesn't work when I type in the postcode - is it working for anyone else?

Reggie_K

Your local electricity distributor can provide you with all the information you want to know about Low and High Voltage over head power cables near to a given property. They all use geographic systems that plot exact locations of their power lines (using grid reference numbers).

There is currently no concrete evidence of any adverse reactions of living near to power lines. Studies have so far focussed on trying to prove a link rather than disprove so can appear biased. But those studies do not take into account any other possible influencing factors.

This link is from the BBC website...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4602315.stm

As is this...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4606229.stm

"Q: Does this mean that pylons cause leukaemia?

"The researchers say no. Although they found a definite trend between the distance that children lived at birth from high voltage power lines and the risk of leukaemia, they could find no obvious explanation for this."

MarkyMarkD

It works AOK for me - interesting site - although some of the stuff is a bit scary (past industrial use seems to affect almost anywhere)!