Methodologies & Limitations: Review risk assessment 

The contaminated land section of the report serves property professionals, assisting them in meeting their obligations as outlined in the Law Society Practice Note on Contaminated Land, while also evaluating other environmental risk areas. It also addresses environmental permit and licence liabilities broadly in accordance with the Law Society Conveyancing Handbook.

The report is a preliminary desktop assessment that uses a wide range of sources and data to identify potential contamination risks. For a comprehensive list of the data considered, please refer to the Contaminated Land section on the ‘Datasets Searched’ page within the report.

The Consultant’s Opinion aims to achieve several objectives:

• Assess the risk of the property being designated as 'Contaminated Land' as defined by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990;
• Evaluate potential impacts on property value in relation to Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015 (as defined regionally);
• Identify potential financial liabilities related to sites requiring environmental permits or licences, either as operators or freeholders;
• Consider significant abnormal costs arising from ground contamination for sites identified by the client as (re)development plots.

Banking security 

This aspect considers the suitability of the property as robust financial security for secured lending facilities. It operates on the assumption that the property is considered independently, applying normal commercial lending loan-to-value ratios.

Statutory or 3rd party action

Assesses the potential impact on the site's value due to regulatory or third-party intervention, particularly relevant to sites where operations may attract fines, improvement notices, or permit revocations.

Environmental liability

Evaluates whether findings may significantly impact a standard Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ property valuation, therefore potentially requiring further action. Redevelopment considerations are only included if notified when Groundsure is commissioned.

Assessment methodology

Part 2A Contaminated Land designation potential

Groundsure reviews potential sources of current and historic land contamination, assessing their potential impact on identified receptors at or near the site. This follows the principles of a source-pathway-receptor model. Further information is available here https://knowledge.groundsure.com/contaminated-land-assessment-stages

Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015

This considers ground contamination that has resulted from operations after Part 2A was introduced. It relates to businesses with a licence to discharge to the environment (water, air or land) or handle waste or operations that damage a protected environment (e.g. site of special scientific interest). We assess whether the operations on site have potential to trigger contamination sufficient to require remediation.

Identification of significant abnormal redevelopment costs

Where we have been instructed that there is potential for redevelopment we consider potential sources of current and historical land contamination. Based on the proposed end use provided by the customer, we consider whether significant additional investigation or remediation works may be required to secure planning permission under the National Planning Policy Framework (2023) (NPPF). NOTE: it is the responsibility of the developer to ensure that the property is suitable for its intended end use.

Identification of Permit/ Operational risks

Further to the contaminated land assessment we review potential liability from operations requiring environmental permits or licences. Liabilities can include administration and maintenance costs for the process and the permit, or  investment costs to ensure regulatory compliance or outstanding legal or regulatory action/ liability. We consider permits, licences and consents as detailed here. 

Our methodology does change from time to time to reflect market risk understanding and legislative changes.

Risk levels

The level of risk associated with the property is divided into five categories: 

• Low: There are unlikely to be significant environmental liabilities associated with the property. 
• Low to Moderate: There are unlikely to be significant environmental liabilities associated with the property with regard to the proposed use. However, minor issues may require further consideration and assessment under certain circumstances e.g. redevelopment. 
• Moderate: Some potential environmental liabilities are likely to reside with the property as a result of historical and / or current use. Whilst unlikely to represent an immediate significant issue, if left unchecked this position may change with time. A prudent purchaser may wish to make further enquiries of the vendor / undertake limited further due diligence / seek environmental improvements. Redevelopment of the site will likely require further, more detailed assessment. 
• Moderate to High: Some potential significant environmental liability issues have been identified at the property requiring further assessment. Should further information be available it may be possible to re-assess the risk. In the absence of sufficient further information, further assessment might comprise consultation with the environmental regulators / review of existing environmental reports / commissioning new environmental reports / consideration of environmental insurance.
• High: Significant potential environmental liabilities have been identified at the property. Further detailed environmental due diligence will likely be required and may include review of existing environmental reports / commissioning new environmental reports including site investigations / consideration of environmental insurance / transaction restructuring.

Limitations of the study 

The report is intended for use by professional advisers who are experienced and skilled in the use and interpretation of environmental data and/or risk assessment opinions. Only those entities detailed in our standard terms and conditions may rely on this report.

This report is based either on the answers provided by the client or, where not provided, on the assumption that the site is in general commercial use and that no significant (re)development is planned. 

The Client should be aware that the report uses aggregated Third Party Data as well as Groundsure’s proprietary data. However, Groundsure does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of Third Party Data or its own independently produced data.

Review reports do not include an inspection of the Site or consultations with regulators or other parties. Certain land uses or features and/or the condition of a site may be apparent only from a physical inspection.

The assessment is based on data that is regularly updated and it is recommended that a Review report be updated after a period of 6 months.

For full details please refer to our terms and conditions under which the report was supplied.