Frequently Asked Questions
Does contaminated land legislation apply to me?
How can I find out if a house is affected by contamination?
Can the Council provide information?
Can I see a list of potentially ‘contaminated land’?
Can advise me whether I should buy a particular property or land?
Does contaminated land legislation apply to me?
The contaminated land regime has implications for those who have caused or knowingly permitted land to be contaminated or who own, occupy or intend to purchase or sell land that is contaminated. You can always discuss this informally with us, see Contact Us.
How can I find out if a house is affected by contamination?
When houses are up for sale, prospective purchasers are usually advised to make an Environmental Search by their solicitor or conveyancer. This was rarely done a few years ago, but is now common practice. A number of private companies provide this service for a fee and provide you with a report containing environmental information in relation to the property of interest. (‘Buying and Selling Property- Environmental Information’)
Your legal advisor or estate agent can arrange this for you.
Can the Council provide information?
If you contact the Council requesting information about the potential for contamination at a property, this is governed by The Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Such requests for environmental information are charged an initial fee of £62 if the request comes via a solicitor or consultant, or £31 from a private individual. The fee is payable in advance. Costs may exceed this if the request is particularly complicated involving prolonged time and effort. There is then a subsequent hourly rate about which you will be advised in advance.
Sometimes the Council does not hold any additional information to that provided in your commercial environmental search report. It may therefore be worthwhile making an informal approach first, see Contact Us.
Can I see a list of potentially ‘contaminated land’?
No, the Council does not make such a list available. However, we can provide details of information we hold on a site specific basis, in other words, if you enquire about a specific address or plot of land, we will deal with this request for a fee, as detailed above, subject to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Enquiries of the Public Register required to be kept under PartIIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 are free. This register details the clean up of land which is formally determined as ‘Contaminated Land’ under this Act (What Role Does the Council Play in Contaminated Land). Many people wrongly refer to this as the ‘contaminated land’ register. It is in fact a register of what actions have been taken to ‘clean up’ land once it has been formally determined as ‘Contaminated Land’. Most councils do not yet have any entries on this register as they have not reached that particular stage of their contaminated land strategies. Wealden has one entry on the register.
It is therefore more likely that you will be enquiring about land or property via an Environmental Information Request as described above.
Can you advise me whether I should buy a particular property or land?
Although we are often approached for such advice, we can only provide information, not opinion. We will always try to be as helpful as we can, but unfortunately, having done your research and obtained your information, it will be up to you to make such decisions.