Local searches - contaminated land further assessments needed

[puffylovett]

Just hoping for a bit of help really.

Local searches on our purchase are back, apparently we need further assessment of contaminated land due to a garage (mechanic with one petrol pump) 3 doors down and a concrete factory 500m away.

We feel this is something the vendor should undertake but the solicitor says it's for us to undertake.

OH says it should be vendors responsibility as if land is found to be contaminated, obviously we would pull out but they would still have the same issue with future buyers so it makes the most sense for them to do it.

How do I word email to the solicitors to say please refer this back to the vendor - and are we right in doing so? (Cost quoted is £175 odd and money is very tight for us right now... )

It is yours to do, as your mortgage company may not let you have the mortgage without it. We had to have a mining survey done when we bought our house, and when we remortgaged 4 years ago, the surveyor insisted on a mundic survey even though the house was built before concrete was invented!

The vendors may well have had a similar survey done when they moved in, you could ask for sight of that and see if that is OK, but these are normal expenses involved with buying a house; the mortgage company may well want you to pay for the report to show that it is kosher, rather than the vendor.

Ah, OK that makes sense. Now to tell DP ..... (who has arse out anyway becuase we've got to buy an indemnity policy for a teeny bay window kitchen extension in our kitchen too that doesn't appear to have building regs or pp... and wasn't picked up when we bought the house )