Pollution
Contaminated land
How may land become contaminated?
Land may become contaminated when substances have found their way on or into the ground - often due to industrial disposal, leaks or spillages. These substances may still be present in the ground above background or acceptable levels.
Land formerly used by industries may now be used for other purposes which are more sensitive to the potential effects of contamination.
Buying or selling property
If you are buying or selling a property it is important to know if the land may be affected by potential contamination because of its historical uses.
Our Homebuyer and Sellers' Guide provides information on how potential contamination and liability may affect property acquisitions and sales.
Information requests and charges
We hold numerous records which can be used to assess potentially contaminated land. Such assessments may be for land redevelopment, acquisition or due diligence purposes.
The factual information we hold can be obtained through Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), but may only be used for non-commercial, research or review purposes.
Read our privacy notice which tells you how we use your data.
Submit an online request for information
Under EIR we have 20 working days to respond to your request.
Summary of charges
Our charges depend on the complexity of your enquiry, availability of former records and area of land. The summary of charges is as follows:
Individual residential properties (50m radius of property boundary)
- Summary report - £45 (up to 20 working days following confirmation of acceptance)
- Expedited report - £ 90 (5 working days)
Commercial property and commercial land enquiries (250m radius of site boundary)
- Summary report - £180 (up to 20 working days following confirmation of acceptance)
- Expedited report - Additional 50% of above charges (5 to 7 working days)
Charges are based on an hourly rate of £90 and no VAT is charged on EIR requests.
Contaminated land and priority status enquiries
All enquiries relating to the contaminated land status of a site within the Liverpool boundary will cost £25. This is based on officer time running the Part 2a algorithm on our STM Mapeagle © mapping system, which categorises the site according to the degree of risk the site poses to human health and the environment, and the likely timeframe for inspection under the Contaminated Land Regulations.
Charges are payable by invoice upon completion.
Report an incident
Contact us to report any of the following contaminated land issues:
- Records of processes, chemicals used, or pollution incidents occurring at former factories (anecdotal evidence, photographs).
- Knowledge of materials buried on former factories or deposited in landfill sites.
Flytipping
Land development
If you are a developer or environmental consultant looking for guidance on redeveloping land which may be potentially contaminated, please see the contaminated land page in our business section.