Thoughts/experience building on a former sewage works?

[kingandy2nd]

I’ve seen a plot of land come up for sale which I would like to purchase as a long term investment to eventually (and hopefully) build my own house upon.

It’s in a great location in the countryside, but the downside is that it is a former sewage works. As far as I can gather, it’s been disused for several years and all the plant and equipment has been removed leaving only some hardstanding areas.

My thoughts are, that although the sites is in the greenbelt, because of it’s former life it will be classed as brownfield. Obviously I’ll need to investigate the development potential with the LPA.

My question here, and yes I realise it’s a long shot, is:

Has anyone hand any experience in working/clearing this type of site and have any useful advice?

I assume the land will be classed as contaminated, but to what extent will remedial work be needed to decontaminated? Obviously any work is dependant on the level of contamination, but what type of work is usually involved? I.e. removal and disposal of soil, chemical treatments, etc, etc?

Any thoughts/feelings gratefully welcomed

 

[Shytalkz]

First thing you will need is a detailed site investigation; from that all other things will follow.

Depending on the size of the site, this will probably comprise at least two boreholes and supplementary probing. There are a whole host of contaminants that the SI will have to test for and it will probably require the installation of capped pipes for monthly measurements. Reckon on about £4-5k for this exercise. You might also want to think about getting a JCB for half a day's hire and opening up some excavations yourself.

There could of course have been a diverse range of chemicals in the sewage itself. If any of the specific contaminants (methane etc) are found and are above a certain limit (LEL), then you may have to take precautions such as installing a methane barrier across a building footprint. Other contaminants may require soil removal to licenced tips - v expensive.

If the buildings have been demolished, was all the detritus carted away? If there was asbestos, has this been buried on site?

This is going to be a project where you would really need to spend some dosh up front, with no guarantee of a positive outcome. You might, however, be able to get the vendor to do this work, unless he's hedging his bets on someone coming along with eyes firmly closed.

 

[^woody^]

If the land is contaminated then you are buying into a lot of work, cost and onerous obligations and you would be wise to walk away and find another bit of land. It's really not worth it

 

[Richard C]

A developer friend of mine has developed two multiple plot sites classed as contaminated; one was the goods vehicle yard of a large transport company (diesel) & the other was part of an old railway goods yard (coal). These two developments alone practically made him a millionaire!

However; I wouldn’t go near it unless you can be sure of the exact nature of contamination, how much soil you would have to extract (my friend had to shift & replace 450mm from the whole site!) & if you can be sure of gaining Planning Permission. In my view PP would be unlikely as, brownfield or not, its rural location would almost certainly put it outside the designated build area covered in your Local Development Plan which the Government required all councils to drawn up a few years ago; it’s public record so it’s easy to check. It would neeed to be exceptionally cheap but I think it's a case of risk takers only need apply!

 

[kingandy2nd]

Thanks for your thoughts and input. I know this will be a big risk, but if you always play it safe you will never realise your dreams!

The site is a little over 8 acres and is currently owned by UU. I’m going for a site visit tonight, but it looks to me from the pictures available that the whole site has been levelled and only the concrete infrastructure is left. From the notes to the lots it states that the site has been disused for many years and has in a large part returned to scrub land.

I assume that UU will have done the necessary decontamination work when the treatment works was decommissioned in order that it couple be left safely in it’s current state. Therefore, if I buy the place there won’t be any further costs in this respect until I want to do something with the land.

As I will only want to build one property on the site, my idea would be only to earmark a small part of the land as plot for any future house or garden, leaving the surrounding area as scrub land.

By doing this, do you think I will be able to limit any future decontamination costs to only the proposed development area, or do people think that I would still be forces to decontaminate the whole site?

The location is excellent, only a couple of miles outside of the city, and at a £40-50k guide price is (I feel) cheap.

It doesn’t fall into the current designated development area, but I’m looking at this as a longer term investment (10 years or so until I think I’d be able to afford to build on it) so I’d be hedging my bets that planning attitudes will have changed in that period.

Also, as I’m only looking to only build one house which I will endeavour to be eco-friendly (I know that’s seen favourably by some planners), I hope that with patience and time eventually I would get an application approved.

 

[NS215]

http://www.harrowestates.co.uk/

try these people they should be able to advise you

 

[jono_h]

Just don't rely on any information given to you by UU.

I used to work for Thames Water and we sold a small rural site. One day we got a call as the developer had broken through a sewer with a JCB - absolutely no sign of it on the plans supplied.
Crap everywhere, and a very large rising main to divert.

 

[kingandy2nd]

Thanks for all your input.

I had two site visits, and I'm glad I went for a second!!

Second time round the wind was blowing in the opposite direction across the sight from the direction of lagoon/lake that was left over from the treatment works. Although the lagoon (about an acre area in total) has returned to nature with reeds, ducks, etc all the place absolutely stunk of stagnant water/waste.

So despite the sight looking beautiful and ripe for development, I don't think I could live with the smell.

Therefore I won't be persuing this any further.

 

[Richard C]

Nice to get some feedback, thanks!