BBC's 'THE REAL STORY' HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHAT LIES BENEATH

Last night the BBC programme, The Real Story, 'What's under your home?'* highlighted factors that can drastically reduce the value of your home if gone unchecked.

The programme revealed that there are as many as 33,000 polluted land sites across the UK, emphasising the importance for homeowners to instruct their solicitor to carry out an environmental report by Landmark Information Group, before they buy. If contaminated land is located close to or underneath your home, not only can it be life threatening but it will seriously affect the value of any affected property.

Contamination is one of the most worrying problems a report can identify, but there are other issues that can be revealed, including whether your potential purchase has been built over one of the 10,000 disused mines across the UK.

Thousands of homes are built above old mines, and living above one can bring a risk of subsidence and at worst may cause your home to literally fall away from underneath you. Belinda Donoghue from Redruth in Cornwall was featured on the programme because she feared she may be living directly above a disused mine. Her next door neighbour's home was valued at just £1,000 for standing above a mine. Belinda's worst fears were confirmed during 'The Real Story' instantly causing the value of her home to plummet.

James Sherwood-Rogers, Managing Director of Landmark Legal and Financial comments: 'Contamination is just one of the many serious environmental factors that can be problematic to home owners, there is a whole host of other information an environmental report will include, so it is amazing to think that as many as a third of buyers do not bother with a survey. The programme really highlighted the importance of getting an environmental report before buying a property.'

James continues: 'The only way to be certain of knowing whether your property is affected by an environmental issue is to have an environmental survey carried out by professionals. Buyers need to insist that their solicitor provides them with a comprehensive environmental and planning report as part of the searches they carry out before a property purchase'

Solicitors in the UK received advice from the Law Society as long ago as 2001 to warn homebuyer clients about the potential risks of buying a property on contaminated land and the need for clear information.

Landmark also provides a free website to check environmental and planning issues against your postcode at Homecheck.co.uk. For further information on Landmark Information Group please contact 0844 844 9966, email info@landmarkinfo.co.uk or visit www.landmarkinfo.co.uk