TABLE OF CONTENTS In addition to making these pre-contract enquiries, it is now common practice for the purchaser to commission an environmental search report. This often identifies the historical uses of the land and the adjoining properties for up to the previous 150 years This may be obtained in certain public registers such as ordinance survey maps, which are often available in the relevant local authority offices. The planning history of the site should also reveal any potential problem areas, as far as the use of the site is concerned.
Where the land is found to have had contaminative uses in the past and there is no evidence that satisfactory remediation has been carried out on the site, then there may be need for a full environmental audit on the site. This would serve to determine the extent of contamination and the appropriate method of remediation.
