One-third of residential properties in England are located within close proximity of historic mining activities

With data* analysed by Landmark Information suggesting that approximately one-third of residential properties in England and Wales are located within close proximity of historic mining activities, new layers of ground stability risk analysis has been added to Landmark’s all-in-one RiskView reports, including the ability to identify past insurance claims made within proximity of the property.

The aim is to provide property owners, buyers and legal conveyancers with greater insight to hazards relating to man-made and natural risks for a given property.

The RiskView reports also include details of past insurance claims resulting from damage caused by subsidence to properties in the locale, providing ‘real life’ evidence of potential hazards for a given property.

It is not unusual for homes to experience subsidence. Subsidence occurs when there is a sudden sinking with no horizontal motion, which means that if left unfixed, your property could sink into the groundwork of your home. But this can be fixed. Somewhere similar to this Buildfix underpinning service can help to identify the problem at hand and can, therefore, complete the relevant work to help get your property to the standard and safety in which it once was. Having insurance on your house could be beneficial should these incidents happen.

Assessing historical mining records (using public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 and Landmark Information Group Limited 2017) found that in 95 of the 385 Local Authority (LA) areas, over 50% of residential properties were located within 250m of mining activities. Of these, there are 34 LAs where 100% of the homes are located within close proximity of former mining activities. Only three LAs currently have no considered risk of mining activities.

If the RiskView report identifies the presence of a hazard, it could mean the property has a potential risk of structural damage from subsidence or heave. The desktop report covers a wide range of risks, including man-made and natural sources – such as coal and non-coal mining, landfill sites, salt mining, brine extraction and more – as well as providing subsidence insurance claim information, thereby highlighting both the risk and actual impact of local ground conditions.