Coal Authority

Coal mining has a long and important role in the industrial history of Great Britain. This is especially true of the North East, which has a rich mining heritage.

Coal mining records are held and maintained by the Coal Authority on both opencast and deep mining activities. Not surprisingly, past or current coal mining activity can have an effect on surface property and in coal mining areas a coal-mining search is essential prior to the completion of a house purchase.

Coal mining may affect a property due to subsidence, although under the 1991 Coal Mining Subsidence Act, owners of property damaged by coal mining may be entitled to remedies including repair or depreciation compensation payments. A house may have been built over or near to old coal mineshafts and opencast mining can have an environmental impact.

How can a Coal Authority mining search help?

Coal mining searches are considered by property professionals as vital for anyone buying property in any coal mining area in Britain. The Coal Authority holds and maintains the national coal-mining database and provides a fast, accurate, property-specific and cost-effective coal mining search service for any property in England, Scotland and Wales.

A coal mining report also offers sections on the following:

Past and current underground coal mining activity along with details of any recorded old coal mineshafts and licences for future mining
Current opencast coal mining operations and whether the property was built over a worked out opencast site
Shafts and adits

Ground Stability Report

This is the first and only authoritatively sourced and supported ground stability report that satisfies the Law Society’s due diligence requirements under CON29M 2006 (ScotForm 2006 in Scotland).

The home buying public need to avoid the misery of subsidence damage. They need to be aware of the risk of subsidence from man-made causes like coal mining and from natural causes like clay shrinkage and soluble rocks. Ground stability is as relevant as flooding or contaminated land to a home-buyer, and to their lenders and insurers.

Subsidence doesn’t just occur in coal-mining areas; significant problems exist in London and the south-east and in other non-coal mining areas.

This report provides essential information for those assembling Home Information Packs (HIPs) and those considering property purchase and provides property specific information in simple language on the potential hazards related to natural subsidence throughout Great Britain, the impact of mining within the coalfields and the risk and occurrence of damage caused by brine extraction.

The Ground Stability Report combines authoritative information and knowledge on coal mining and natural ground stability from the Coal Authority and the British Geological Survey. The report will also include information on Brine for purchasers of property in Cheshire. This information is a valuable inclusion in any Home or Purchaser’s Information Pack, as it contains all the latest due diligence elements of the Law Society’s coal mining search, and the added benefit of impartial, accurate and comprehensive information on natural ground movement, with authoritative and responsive technical helpline support.

Benefits for the homebuying public include a one-stop low-cost property-specific report which has been developed in consultation with key stakeholders and customer representatives. Uniquely, insurance cover of up to £50,000 is offered with each report produced, to cover against any subsequent detrimental change in a report’s content.