Property transactions

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 of poor environmental or sustainability performance)

In a property context, environmental issues can arise from the historic, current and proposed use of the site and nearby land, pollution incidents and storage tanks, asbestos in buildings, the energy efficiency of buildings and regulatory requirements such as permits. See the table below.

Land	Land contamination, water pollution, environmental damage, asbestos in soil, landfills, fly-tipped waste, ground subsidence, sinkholes, coal mining, unexploded ordnance, radon, Japanese knotweed, flooding, Sustainable drainage systems (SUDs), wildlife and habitat protection, energy projects, planning requirements, nuisance
Buildings	Asbestos in buildings, Energy performance certificates (EPCs), minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES), CRC energy efficiency scheme (CRC), Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), air-conditioning, F-gases and ozone depleting substances, building control regulations
Fixtures	Underground storage tanks, above

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