Buying a property on potential contaminated land

It depends what the contamination is. Your solicitor can emply a more detailed search surely.

I'm not sure? He has sent me a copy of the report and it simply says potential contaminated land. He has written to Northern Rock who are selling the property to ask them to provide insurance and for further information but I don't think that they would have any further info given that it is a repossession.

How old is the property?

35 years

I am an environmental consultant specialising in contaminated land so hopefully can help a bit. If the land is 25m away it is unlikely to have an effect on you or your property unless it is giving off gas.

It is more likely to cause you a problem when you come to sell the house especially as environmental legislation is becoming stricter all the time. I think you should try to find out a bit more about it eg. why it is contaminated, what it was used for , is it industrial premises.

Your solicitor will be asking Northern Rock for an Indemnity Policy to protect you and any furthers owners of the title against any issues arising from the contaminated land. Be warned though your solicitor will have to write to your mortgage lender to advise of the contaminated land to ensure they are still willing to lend - 95% of lenders will be satisfied by an Indemnity policy

Is it likely that NR will provide such a policy?

Well techincally they ought to as it is a defect of their title - I am presuming its a reposession? If so, they may refuse but you can get a policy for the same thing and it won't cost a lot

Yep it is a reposession.

Thanks all, got to close computer down now as leaving work for the day. But many thanks for your help.

Cosmo

Contaminated land per se wouldn't necessarily bother me but I would need to know what the contaminants were to be able to make an informed decision. EG asbestos wouldn't cause me to lose any sleep but an ex-chemical works might.

I'd have thought Gordon's Rock would be desperate to get rid of any property they could make money on, especially for the price of an indemnity policy. Hope it gets sorted soon.

If I remember from my mortgage days I think your new mortgage company can request an environmental report from the relevant agencies. It might be worth a phone call to them as chances are they are requesting it anyway for their own purposes, I know we used to do it before issuing a mortgage offer. Once they know what it we used to show it to the valuer and ask if it was likely to affect the orginal valuation price.

One other point, it is worth getting in touch with the Contaminated Land Officer of the council, they will be able to tell you if it is actually contaminated or not. If it is they will be able to give you all the info on the site and what has/is/will be done about it. I would also check the historical maps (this can be done for free at the local studies section of the library, and sometimes on-line) the database they use is flawed and so is not always accurate. I work as a Contaminated Land Officer, so pm if I can help any further xxx