Environmental issues affect freehold and leasehold interests.
Legal advice in property transactions requires identifying environmental risk which encompasses a broad range of environmental issues both natural and human induced such as:
land contamination
air pollution
water pollution
flooding
asbestos
exposure to hazardous substances
subsidence and sinkholes
In a property context, environmental issues can arise from:
historic use of the site (eg previous industrial uses)
historic and/or current use of nearby properties (eg potential leaching of contaminants from other sites)
the current or proposed use of the site (eg a potentially contaminating use or a use requiring specific permits/licences)
regulatory requirements (eg Energy Performance Certificates, Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), building regulations)
Legal advice in relation to property transactions requires a commercial assessment of the target's actual or contingent environmental risks and liabilities, including:
potential impact on the value of assets (eg remediation or other clean-up costs)
operational risks (eg transfer, suspension or revocation of an environmental permit or other necessary licence)
reputational risks (eg pollution incidents or perception...
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