High area for Radon - buyers Solicitors asking for a retention - anybody else had this?

[Fedupofdiets]

Hi I am selling my mid terrace Victorian house in an area that has been identified as a high risk for radon, looking at the UK radon map most of the area is the same. I have been asked to purchase a radon monitor which is only £50 so not an issue but it takes 3 months to get the readings. I have had the queries come back from my Solicitor and it reads as follows -

The purchaser’s solicitors have enquired as to whether you would be agreeable to holding back a retention to be used towards any remediation costs in respect of radon if identified?

Having googles this it is likely to be around the 2k mark which I cannot afford due to my forwarding purchase. I only bought the house 2 years ago and cannot remember this even coming up. How would you handle this? Just say no and hope the buyer is still willing to buy? Houses are selling like hot cakes in my area at the minute so not worried about finding another buyer but the issue will obviously arise again.

Radon is a risk to health and the buyer would be taking a significant risk without the withholding monies. However, I see why you don't want to - I wouldn't either. Personally I'd probably get the monitors, wait the 3 months and try again as I think the likelihood of it actually proving an issue is fairly low, especially assuming you don't have a cellar or something?

It's also worth thinking you have nothing to lose by saying no, given you can't afford to say yes - if they pull out, they pull out - you're in no worse a situation than you are now, given you can't afford to agree the retention.

Thanks for your reply, no cellar. I appreciate the risk it just seems strange I don't remember this being raised when I purchased it or maybe it did and I overlooked it! I think at this stage I will ask my EA to approach the buyer and see what they would like to do knowing I won't be willing to put a retention in place. At least they can pull out sooner rather than later.

Maybe worth digging the purchase information out? I guess if it wasn't flagged by your solicitors and it's going to cause a problem there may be a ? over whether or not your purchase solicitors did their due diligence on the house?

Practically the whole of the south west has high radon, if everyone did this no one would sell houses. The risk from radon is mainly to smokers.

It’s a standard question on the property information form, I’m surprised it didn’t come up when you bought.

@Augend23
I can pretty much guarantee that @Fedupofdiets 's buying conveyancer 'did their due diligence' ( love the phrase by the way, all that legal training and processes in place = due diligence).

Were the parameters for radon testing were the same then ?

Did @Fedupofdiets listen/ read their advice?

Did @Fedupofdiets 's mortgage lender have the same rules on radon?

Have the guidelines on radon reading changed?

Have name changed.

The radon map has been updated recently, so it could be that you weren't actually in a radon affected area before?

Have you looked at:

https://www.ukradon.org/information/ukmaps

You can also do a more precise search using https://www.ukradon.org/services/address_search for a small sum (the map will indicate that you're in a radon affected area if a small percentage of houses are affected, but due to the way the mapping works and geological variations, you might not actually be in the high radon area).

So even in a radon affected area, 99% of properties might not have a high radon level, so it could be that all this will be for nothing, but without measurements, you can't tell, because it can literally vary property to property.

But as for whether you agree to the radon bond, it's up to you. It sounds like you can call their bluff, say no and then they have to decide whether to carry on or pull out for the sake of £2k, which would probably be a bit silly unless they're really stretched and are unable to continue, if your property is otherwise right for them.

My understanding is that this is not a legal requirement for me to do this and my mortgage went through fine 2 years ago. The buyers Solicitor rightly flagged it up, they may not even know about it yet / be that bothered by it. Maybe it was flagged up to me but I cannot remember any mention of money being retained or tests being carried out, I don't have the searches anymore that I had done at the time. New buyer is a cash buyer so not limited to a mortgage lenders rules but obviously may feel it is too much of a risk for them. I will call my EA this morning and get them to have a chat with her before it goes any further.

It's ridiculous, like you say all the houses in that area will be the same. The advice even if the house does test high for radon is just to leave windows open a crack. I'd stand firm & say no retention, remarket if necessary.

@MCurieNotReally Thanks for that, yes thats what I have looked at - we are in the medium risk area by looking at it. Maybe thats why it wasnt flagged up to me previously. To be honest I don't think I would have thought too much about it either.

I have been asked to purchase a radon monitor which is only £50 so not an issue but it takes 3 months to get the readings.
It might be an idea to crack on and buy the monitor anyway. That way you can either get your retention back sooner or have readings at the ready for the next purchaser.

Everywhere around where I live has high radon. I give it no headspace as what is anyone going to do about it?

I don't have the searches anymore that I had done at the time.
You could ask your solicitor for copies.

I am selling my mid terrace Victorian house
Has any other house in the terrace changed hands recently? Can you talk to them to compare experiences / see if they have readings.

Do minor building works (that's what the £2k is to cover) to reduce the radon concentration in the property to reduce the radiation dose and cancer risk.

Radon exposure is the second most common cause of lung cancer after smoking, and the radiation dose at the action level is 40 times the limit to people who live next to nuclear power stations. Plus some properties have a radon concentration that is hundreds, if not thousands of times higher.

The maps were updated in December 2022 so it's possible that when you bought the house wasn't in a designated 'affected area' but it now is. You can look at a PDF version of the old may here, but obviously can't zoom in as much as the current interactive one - https://www.ukradon.org/cms/assets/gfx/content/resource_2686cs3a0844cee4.pdf

You're under no obligation to carry out a test or pay for the remedial works (hypothetically, via a retention) just as you wouldn't be obliged to knock off £2000 for damp proofing works or similar that a buyer's surveyor may recommend. You may well find that they will be ok with that and cover the costs themselves if they love the property, or they may not want to take the risk. You could repeat this with several sets of buyers.

I'd recommend getting a test done so hopefully it can head off the issue with future buyers. Just bear in mind that you will the legally have to disclose the results to any buyers. You could potentially agree to carrying out a short term screening test (which takes 10 days, plus analysis/reporting time) in the hopes that the levels will be sufficiently low that your current buyers are reassured they won't need to spend £££ on remedial works so don't pull out.

To the poster that said ask your neighbours, unfortunately that is pointless as radon concentrations can vary significantly between properties, even within terraces. And the buyers are quite right to be considering the costs of potential mitigation work as it is not as simple as opening the windows.

Same. We had the radon thing come back on our searches but seeings as I have lived in the area my entire life i didn't give it a second thought. Unless they are willing to buy in a different part of the country they're naive

The radon maps were reissued/updated in November 22. Lot's of areas that were previously ok now need basic etc. probably if you test your house will be ok. Do you know anything about the construction eg do you have a gas membrane / vented void in foundations etc?

If you can’t afford the retention, it’s reasonable to say no and see if the buyer still proceeds.

We live in a high radon county (but not high radon town)

31 years ago when we bought it wasnt mentioned

When my daughter was born 28 years ago the government sent us readers to check levels. We put it in her nursery. It came back as no/low risk. We kept the paperwork.

The testing on sale is a big thing now. We were asked for our copy paperwork when the next door neighbour sold 15 years ago and we heard the next neighbour again requested a retention when they bought 4 years ago - but no issue so they paid it over after 3/6 months.

The OP was selling their house two years ago @thomasclark102 . It's likely they've sorted it out now🤔

😆

Can confirm we moved in two years ago without problem!