Contaminated land

Contaminated land is where there may be some land previously affected by contamination which may present a risk to humans, ecosystems, water quality and property.

Many areas throughout Harrow have an industrial or commercial history which may have made the land inappropriate for some uses.

Developers and landowners are required to ensure and safeguard that land is safe for intended use, especially if we have identified it as being potentially contaminated.

Buying a home

If you plan to buy a house on land with an industrial past use, there might be contamination present in the ground.

This can only be confirmed by investigating the land and taking soil samples.  Your solicitor may arrange for environmental searches to be carried out to satisfy your mortgage lender.

This is usually a search of records to find previous land uses.