Hi Andy,

The certificate that I believe Ivan is referring to, is one which can be issued by an environmental consultant (such as RPS Consultants) where a more in depth desktop search is conducted on the property and having reviewed the results they do not feel that the risk posed by the potential contamination is sufficient for the Local Authority to ever enforce remediation on the land. However, instigating such a search will normally result in the environmental consultant contacting the Local Authority to gain their opinion of the risk at the property. Depending on the response from the Local Authority, this can invalidate any application for insurance leaving you in a position with no insurance, and no certificate from the consultant if the Local Authority’s reaction is not favourable.

If you are looking to proceed quickly and at a guaranteed cost you may choose the insurance option as at least you are then guaranteed peace of mind at a set premium, without the lengthy and costly application to the Local Authority (which provides no guarantee of a solution). You may also find that the majority of insurance policies pass to successors in title of the property meaning that (provided you sell the property before the insurance expires) the cover can be passed to the new purchaser when you look to sell and you will not have to pay any additional costs to guarantee the sale.

Hope this helps!

Hi Andy

I don't really remember what it was about, as my memory become shorter with time :)
But I think Clearance Certificate is something that Council produces after they physically clear the ground.
When I called them, they said there's nothing similar planned for this area. So at the end of the day I went for 1st option, and the seller paid for Indemnity Insurance.
Good luck with your case!

Regards,
Ivan.

Hi Ivan,

I'm currently in the same position on a house built in 1987 in Leamington Spa. I have exhausted almost every avenue other than agreeing to move forward with a contaminated land idemnity insurance policy. My concern is the future blight on the resale of the property.

I've spoken with Environmental Planning, Building Controls & the solicitor at some length. No-one can say for sure one way or the other whether the former use of the site (as a Saw Mill in mid 70's) is contaminated. I believe the litigation culture is stopping people going against the Environmental Report (itself inconclusive because all they have looked at is a historical report) & stating that the land is 'safe'. I am very confident there is no health risk & there is 40+ properties on the site that have bought & sold numerous times over the past few years.

However, the genie is out of the lamp so to speak and it's very difficult to put it back in!

What is the Clearance Certificate that you mentioned & how would I go about getting it??

Cheers

Andy

Ivan

In this small island we live on, there will probably be millions of properties built on land that was at one time used for industry. I am not sure of the process for getting the land checked and a clearance certificate issued, but I doubt this would be something that could be done quickly. Being that there are a number of properties built in the area, I am also not sure of the value of such a certificate, as it would not be a certificate covering the whole area.

My thoughts are that you obtain the indemnity cover, negotiating with the vendor about the cost of the cover, as well as the market value of the flat. I am sure that this issue must have come up when other flats have been sold, so I would have thought the valuations would have taken into account already, but worth checking.

Being that the last industrial use of the land was in the 1960's, I would have thought that any materials that had been left on site, would have degraded to such an extent, they would no longer be a problem. You have to be careful in digging around too much (pardon the pun), but you have to think about what would happen if by making enquires, you either uncovered something or word got around about concern being raised about the issue. e.g. impact on property values for yourself and neighbours.

It's been a long time since last message in this thread...

I have similar situation: I'm buying a flat in Staines, where quite big area is deemed to be potentially contaminited. It is due to past industrial use of the land, particularly first in the world linoleum factory (active from 18?? up to 1960-s).

Blocks were built in 70-s, and area itself looks quite nice, at least no any visual signs of contamination.

I have now 2 options:

1. Pay for indemnity insurance. Lender has agreed to give me mortgage on this condition. I don't know yet how much it would cost me. I'm afraid I will face this problem again when I will be selling the property, as new buyer will get failed report like me now. So potential price of property will be lowered by not getting rid of the actual risk.

2. Investigate further the risk and may be get the Clearance Certificate for the property. I would be nice to have later, when I will be selling the property to avoid any impediments with the buyer. Company (RPS Consultants) that made for me current Environmental Report (36 pages) also offer more searches at Environmental Health Department and Planning Department of local council (Spelthorne), and the price would be £315 + VAT.

I'm inclined to go by 2nd way, as it will once and forever clarify the situation (hopefully). Whichever way I choose, I want to request seller to pay the costs, as it is not something that was on the light at the time of price negotiations.

I would be very gratefull for any advice!

Regards,

Ivan.

While buying my curent house I got the same problem, the house had been built on an old gas works and then ship yard. All we did was take out indemity insurance which has to be arranged by your solicitor from memory it cost £150 and lasts 10 years.

Hi --- This is where an indemnity policy comes into the equation, and why new lenders insist they are put in place by the seller of the property, where there is any possibility of past pollution. If these investigations find that costly works are needed, they cover the costs of the necessary work or the de-valuation of the property caused by the contamination.

Have to add though, an indemnity needs to be in place before these risks are confirmed. As always an insurance would not pay out, if the cover was taken out after the risks had been identified or exposed for definite.

You could always get a site investigation company to carry out what is called a Desk Study report.  This will highlight any potential contamination issues, giving you history of the site and what used to be there etc.  They cost around £600-850 depending upon the information required.  They will also advise you from this report whether they would recommend any further testing of the ground etc.  Hope this helps.

Hi Wayne,

I'm in exactly the same position as you. At the moment, I'm waiting for more information to come from the local authority. Apart from the potential health risk, I'm concerned that if the council at some point decides that remedial work must be carried out and if they cannot identify the person or organization originally responsible for the pollution, the onus of paying for the work falls upon the current owner.

There's a fair amount of info on the internet - try googling "contaminated land houses"

Hi --- This crops up where it is considered that any previous usage of the land the house is built upon or the surrounding grounds, are thought to have had an environmentally questionable past history, which could be detrimental to the health and safety of the proposed new occupants.

Examples could be a past industry that may have spilled any pollutants onto the ground, therefore contamination could still be present, such as a paint works, dye works, even a garage for oil soaking into the ground.

Where this is a possibility the local council has a duty to investigate and make enquiries no matter how small the chances of contaminanation still being present, this will include a site visit from your local environmental health officer and follow up enquiries from archives to determine what, if any risks are still present, along with samples taken for analysis if needed. Usually lenders will not proceed until these reports determine the land is declared clean and fit for security on the mortgage, if you are borrowing.

 

Common sense has to be used though, the chances of the land being adversely polluted should have been investigated already, if there is a house now built upon the site, surely that should have been addressed at the time planning permission was granted for the house to be built in the first place, and indeed should have been granted a clearance certificate. ?

Therefore in summary, your chances of having any blight on the land should surely be seen as extremely low, otherwise they did not do their jobs correctly in the first place, by protecting the previous owners of the house.

All land is potentially contaminated - especially if it is landfill or brown field. You'd need to know exactly what type of contamination they are referring. If they are not being specific, then ask them why they have made the statement and upon what the basis of evidence is that they make such statements.

You might also want to question the validity of the qualifications of the person making the statement. Just because they hold the latest government NVQ in Sport Science and Tree Hugging does not mean that they have the faintest clue about what they are talking about.

Ask the questions and see what is real and what is not.

By the way, if this land happens to glow in the dark and have indigenous species with five legs and twenty toes on each foot, then it could be that the report is correct ... 

SHARK! 

All,

I am in the process of buying a £250,000 house and just received the environmental report which has highlighted the land is potentially contaminated.

 Being a none expert in this field, does anyone know exactly what this means, and the risks to us. Im very concerned and consequently considering pulling the plug on the deal, however my wife is still keen to progress.

Does anyone have any info on this, or an opinion that might help us make our decision?

Thanks

Wayne