First time buyer - search results

[Lisha2008]

Hi all, hope you are all well.

Me and my partner are in the process of buying our first property. We have just received environmental search back from the solicitors but there's a few things that worries us and we can't decide whether to go a head with the purchase or not. Please give me some suggestions.

This property is on a high risk development area due to it being mined back in the old day and the property is near to the entrance of the mine. The mining activities stopped in the 1870s and back filled to a 'made land'. This land has potential issue like: Shrink-swell from the 'made land' , Heap contamination from the material that's been used and also Rodan.

We don't know if this is a huge red flag but we are extremely worried. We have already paid for the searches, valuation and our solicitor has already started working. If we pull out we'd be loss thousands of pound. But if there's bigger issues in the future, we'd rather loss this money than having health issue or foundation issues.

Please help. Thanks in advance.

Hi OP. Are you buying the house because it is in an area you want to live in, or because it’s in your budget? If you are buying in an ex-mining area you’re going to find the same issue with many houses not just this one. Main issues you need to be aware of when buying in an ex-mining area are subsidence and flooding so insurance may well be at a premium. Check that the vendor can actually get insurance. Do some more research on the land contamination and check with the local public health department for any unusual patterns of illnesses which could be related. Get an independent survey done on the property not connected to the bank survey.

From memory I think a huge percentage of homes across England and Wales are built on disused mines so this is not a unique problem. It is the surveyors and solicitors job to point out to you the issues with the property if you decide to go ahead. Generally this looks more alarming on paper than maybe the risks are.

I’d decide if you really want the house and accept that the issues you have now will still be there when you come to sell. If you are in a position to be more flexible with location maybe accept you’ve lost £1500 or so on an aborted purchase but in the long run this may well be the best economic decision.

Good luck with it all.