Land contamination

[Legwarmersforboys]

The solicitors survey has mentioned risk of land contamination & do we want insurance. The attached letter from the solicitor seems to think its not a problem but we can have further investigations it we want.
The area is densely packed with housing & the property has already had an extension.
Is risk of contaminated something that's commonly found in the searches?

The letter is not attached.

Where is the property and when was it built? If in the last 20 years, I'd expect remediation to have been a planning condition if there was a real risk.

Also, are you a cash buyer? If not and if the bank are happy with the risk, then it's probably fairly minor especially in a built-up area.

I'm speaking to the bank this afternoon (sadly not a cash buyer) so I'll make sure its mentioned house is 50's & in Huntingdon Cambs.
Have a lady ringing me from environmental health who might (or not) be able to help.

I'm not sure I would bring it to the Bank's attention. It's up to the solicitor to do that. If the solicitor doesn't think it needs to be brought to the Bank's attention or has brought it to the Bank's attention and they are not bothered, then I think the risk is probably low.

I don't know Huntingdon but is it a former coal mining area? If not, what's the actual risk? Near to landfill or historic industrial uses and a stream / river? Did it come up as high risk or moderate risk? If high, I wouldn't think the Bank would touch it.

Also, be aware that you may not be able to get insurance if you alert Environmental Health to a potential problem. Talk to your solicitor and check the insurance policy before that conversation.

so I didn't mention it to the bank. & I've googled like mad. it seems we have a lot of gravel pits around these parts.

You could phone the groundwater and contaminated land team of the local branch of the Environment Agency.

I did this job a few years ago and if there are records of contamination incidents or remediation work being carried out they should have a record of this on their database.

Also the council are a good place to start (which you've done) as they should have records of historical land use which may be where this problem has arisen. Ask when you speak to them if they have a contaminated land team. , many

It could be lots of innocuous things such as the land being used for industrial purposes many years back. Or if you're adjacent to a railway track for example.

Worth checking it out though in case you want to groww veg but i'm sure it's nothing to worry about.

heslimedme you have been really helpfull & I'm glad I posted

I work for the Environment Agency, and I would have said exactly what heslimedme has said. The phone number for the EA National Customer Contact Centre is 03708 506 506. Email is [email protected].

Best to phone though, and if you have the postcode of the property in question, even better.

Thank you

The house backs on to allotments & a cemetery I'm hoping theirs nothing too dodgy in the ground

Sounds pretty innocuous.