Planning guidance and buying a home
South Ribble Borough Council is frequently contacted regarding contamination issues that relate to the purchase and/ or sale of property.
Contamination issues may be highlighted during the purchase/sale of property in the following ways:
• Local authority land charges search
• Private search company
• By a prospective purchasers' own searches
South Ribble Borough Council is only able to provide factual information it holds that relates to a site.
Information may also be available from the planning and building control service areas of the council.
Planning will be able to inform you whether a condition to deal with contaminated land issues was attached to the planning application for your property. Where a condition was attached to a planning application, they should be able to tell you whether the condition was discharged by the council and whether appropriate information was provided and is available.
Irrespective of any involvement by the Council, the developer and their agents are ultimately responsible for contaminated land issues at a development and you should also contact them for information.
Building control inspects many developments in the borough and may be aware of the design measures incorporated into a property to protect it from contamination. They may also have other information that relates to the development, including whether a private inspector undertook the building control functions for a particular development.
Planning in relation to contaminated land: Guidance note (PDF) [315KB]
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