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The Environmental Protection Act 1990: Part II A (and The Environment Act 1995: Section 57) has increased the liability of homeowners, as well as property owners in general if the land below any premises should be identified as being contaminated. |
Contaminated land is defined in the Guidance as land which is in such condition that:
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significant harm is being caused, or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused; or |
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pollution of controlled waters is being, or is likely to be caused. |
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| 'Harm' means harm to the health of living organisms or other interference with the ecological systems of which they form part and, in the case of man, includes harm to his property. Each local authority is to identify significant pollutants and pathways through which those pollutants can cause harm to receptors (which include people, property, livestock and crops). If these elements are all present (known as a pollutant linkage), contaminated land will have been identified and the local authority must take action by serving a Remediation Notice on the polluter (or person who allowed the pollution to occur) or, if that person cannot be found, the current owner or occupier. The remediation will be that required to make the land fit for the purpose it is used for. That implies a higher standard where the land is used for residential purposes. |
| There is a risk that a property may sit on land that is contaminated through past activity on the land, and where the polluter has long since departed. In such a case the penalty can be severe and very expensive. The householder may have to remediate the grounds or gardens surrounding the building. That can include the removal of all contaminated ground. Costs of more than £75,000 have been incurred where the ground has had to be dug away and the gardens reinstated afterwards. Homeowners who have a contaminated site may, if they can prove that they cannot afford the clean up costs, have some support. The costs of remediation will fall outside the home insurance policy for the property, although some insurers are offering cover as a special policy. Whilst the possibility of a property being affected may sound a remote risk, it is believed that over 2M homes in the UK may be affected. |
| Once contamination is discovered there would appear to be little opportunity to delay the work. Many properties are built on reclaimed land. Industrial process used chemicals, which now are regarded as pollutants. Agriculture used chemicals as fertilizers, manufacturing used arsenic, lead or asbestos and even shops stored materials that may have polluted the ground below or around the building. |
| The surveyor needs to alert a purchaser to the risk, recommend an environmental audit, but confirm that the assessment falls outside the survey. |
