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Terrafirma, one of tmgroup’s environmental search providers, has today rebranded and launched a new website supported by a new strapline -‘understand the ground’. 

In the wake of lenders refusing to secure mortgages against properties in close proximity to mineshafts, the strapline supports Terrafirma’s ongoing campaign to improve awareness of ground stability risks.

Take a look at the new Terrafirma website here

Lenders are refusing to mortgage properties in close proximity to mineshafts 

With sinkholes in the headlines appearing more and more frequently, Terrafirma’s renewed commitment to ‘understand the ground’ has never been more relevant.  Terrafirma is changing the way professionals identify, assess, manage and resolve the risks the ground poses. Combining existing and unique data with a professional opinion, it has created a platform to disrupt environmental risk assessment and management across the UK.

Taking an innovative approach to mining risk and ground instability ensures that professionals and consumers alike are forewarned to the reality and variety of risks the ground poses to properties and land across the UK.

The rebrand closely follows Terrafirma CEO, Tom Backhouse’s, recent TV appearance on Rip Off Britain, where he explained how some lenders are now refusing to secure mortgages against properties in close proximity to mineshafts - creating new challenges for conveyancers and trapping homeowners in houses they’d previously had no problems buying.

The episode covered the case of Sharon who had been struggling to sell her home for three years. Buyer after buyer pulling out at the last minute had been a mystery, until one revealed that banks were refusing to lend against the property after local searches highlighted a mineshaft underneath the neighbouring house. 

Even though the mineshaft had caused no damage to her house, Sharon was given no choice but to put her house up for auction with a reserve price that was £61,000 under market value. Even then, the property remained unsold. 

Given that there are over 130,000 properties in the UK within 20 metres of a mine shaft, this isn’t an isolated issue. 

You can watch a replay of Rip Off Britain here

Terrafirma’s data insights reveal a fuller picture of ground stability

Drawing on Terrafirma’s specialist knowledge in the innovation and provision of mining-instability risk assessment, the TerraSearch® product suite analyses coal mining risks alongside an additional 55 mining hazards to reveal a fuller picture of ground stability in our towns and cities.

The following TerraSearch® products are now available on tmconvey to order against residential and commercial properties :

• TerraSearch® Coal Extra is a regulated ‘CON29M-Compliant’ coal mining search offering an equivalent to the Coal Authority report, including a professional opinion of all coal mining risks and CON29M questions and additionally alerting to 55 further mining hazards. 

• TerraSearch® Assess is a single search that comprehensively assesses the risk to a site (property and land) from all 60 mining hazards, including past, present and planned extraction.

Both TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess include additional professional interpretations, as well as a TerraSearch® Coal & Brine Report Indemnity Policy up to £50,000 loss in market value of the property (in the event that a conclusion changes based on the addition of new data), and £10 million liability per report in the event of wrong or missing information.  

TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess are also supported by a TerraSearch® Alert, which is now available on tmconvey.

For more information, take a look at Terrafirma’s new website. You can also book your place at one of our Risky Business Roadshows this November to discuss your challenges with Tom Backhouse in person.

Ahead of our Risky Business Roadshow, Chris Lowe from Shopper Anonymous explains why making the time to follow up on initial phone enquiries will set you apart from the competition: 

“With only 10% of firms following up on enquiries, huge gaps are developing between those that follow up and those that don’t. 

Making a follow up call to see if you can be of service or offer further advice shows you care. This will differentiate you from other law firms – and help you increase your new client figures by making those calls.”

Join us for our Risky Business Roadshow to find out more

Chris Lowe will be part of our guest speaker line-up at our Risky Business Roadshow events this November, which will explore how firms can better protect, prepare and promote their businesses. 

Click here to see our full list of dates and locations

Ahead of our Risky Business Roadshow, Michelle Garlick from Weightmans LLP explains some of the practical steps you can take to avoid your firm being the next victim of property fraud:

“Fraud methods vary and evolve continually, so practitioners should diligently look out for anything unusual or suspicious which may point to possible title fraud.

Be alert to possible red flags, do not become involved in questionable investment schemes, train your staff on the SRA and Law Society warning notices and practice notes – and don’t provide banking facilities through your client account.”

Join us for our Risky Business Roadshow to find out more

Michelle Garlick will be part of our guest speaker line-up at our Risky Business Roadshow events this November, which will explore how firms can better protect, prepare and promote their businesses.

Click here to see our full list of dates and locations

This week’s episode of Rip Off Britain revealed that some lenders are now refusing to secure mortgages against properties in close proximity to mineshafts - creating new challenges for conveyancers and trapping homeowners in houses they’d previously had no problems buying.

The Rip Off Britain episode first aired on BBC1 on 17th October 2017 and followed the case of Sharon who had been struggling to sell her home for 3 years. Buyer after buyer pulling out at the last minute had been a mystery, until one revealed that banks were refusing to lend against the property after local searches highlighted a mineshaft underneath the neighbouring house. 

Even though the mineshaft had caused no damage to her house, Sharon was given no choice but to put her house up for auction with a reserve price that was £61,000 under market value. Even then, the property remained unsold. 

You can watch a replay of Rip Off Britain here

Over 130,000 properties in the UK are within 20 metres of a mineshaft

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many more sellers and their conveyancers could find themselves in a similar situation, as Tom Backhouse CEO and Founder of Terrafirma explained: 

“There are over 130,000 properties in the UK within 20 metres of a mine shaft, so historically the banks acted on a yes/ no response against “is there data or not?”. That doesn’t work anymore.

A lot of the time these mineshafts aren’t actually there. When something is flagged on a report, it is just data (that in some cases can be 150 years old). The report doesn’t look into whether the mine entry is gone or not. 

In Sharon’s case, a specialist excavation report could be ordered to drill into the ground to reassure lenders, but this could cost up to £5,000 – and reveal the mineshaft does exist. 

Overall, banks need to take a more nuanced approach and act on risk assessment. We have the technology. We can proactively go out and find mineshafts and take action to ensure they are not going to cause any problems in the future.”

Homebuyers need to ensure their conveyancers are carrying out relevant searches

Homebuyers need to ensure their conveyancers are carrying out relevant searches to ensure they are aware of any risks relating to a property, as UK Finance commented:

“While most old mine shafts don’t cause a problem for properties nearby, anyone considering buying close to one should ensure that the relevant searches are done and that there’s been a proper assessment of the risk.” 

TerraSearch® analyses coal mining risks alongside an additional 55 mining hazards to reveal a fuller picture of ground stability in our towns and cities

Drawing on Terrafirma’s specialist knowledge in the innovation and provision of mining-instability risk assessment, the TerraSearch® product suite analyses coal mining risks alongside an additional 55 mining hazards to reveal a fuller picture of ground stability in our towns and cities.

The following TerraSearch® products are now available on tmconvey to order against residential and commercial properties :

• TerraSearch® Coal Extra is a regulated ‘Con29M-Compliant’ coal mining search offering an equivalent to the Coal Authority report, including a professional opinion of all coal mining risks and CON29M questions and additionally alerting to 55 further mining hazards. 

• TerraSearch® Assess is a single search that comprehensively assesses the risk to a site (property and land) from all 60 mining hazards, including past, present and planned extraction.

Both TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess include additional professional interpretations, as well as a TerraSearch® Coal & Brine Report Indemnity Policy up to £50,000 loss in market value of the property (in the event that a conclusion changes based on the addition of new data), and £10 million liability per report in the event of wrong or missing information.  

TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess are also supported by a TerraSearch® Alert, which is now available on tmconvey.

For more information, book your place at one of our Risky Business Roadshows this November to discuss your challenges with Tom Backhouse in person.

You can also watch a replay of Rip Off Britain here, or read this blog post on Are sinkholes in the headlines finally revealing the truth about mining risks?.

Image credit : BBC1's Rip Off Britain

A recent First Tier VAT Tribunal, revolving around the treatment of electronic property searches, has found against law firm, Brabners, resulting in a VAT assessment of £68,000 being upheld. This case could be of significant interest to all firms providing conveyancing services and recharging fees incurred for property searches.

The decision concerned whether such search fees could be considered a disbursement and whether VAT should have been charged to clients.  HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) assessed Brabners on the basis that the searches were actually an incidental part of their overall service to their clients and not a disbursement under the rules. 

Judge McNall recognised that Brabners “had acted in good faith” and had complied with the Law Societies guidelines, however he concluded that when Brabners obtained search results, and prepared a separate report on them, it was using that information “as part and parcel of its overall service”.  

Notwithstanding that Brabners were supported by the Law Society in presenting its case, the Tribunal agreed with HMRC’s position and the court declared that 20% VAT should be levied on the whole search cost, not just on part of the search cost.

It is not yet clear whether this case will be appealed to the Upper Tier Tribunal and The Law Society have said that they are “considering the implications of the decision for our practice note on VAT and disbursements.”

What does this mean for conveyancers?

Although First Tier Tribunal decisions commonly have no bearing in law and do not generally set legal precedent, it is thought possible that HMRC could look to target conveyancing firms for an under-declaration of VAT in relation to the recharge of search fees to their clients. 

Firms may choose to delay changing their current practice as the decision could yet be overturned, but taking this course of action poses a risk if the decision is upheld. It has been suggested by many leading law firms that the safest position may be for such searches to be treated as a vatable recharge rather than a disbursement.  This will only impact on transactions where VAT has not already been charged on the original cost. 

What does this ruling mean for tmgroup?

In the short term, whilst we await further case law review, it will mean no change. We are proposing to continue to invoice the cost of the searches with VAT if we incur VAT in buying the searches and exempt from VAT if no VAT is charged by the supplier. 

Pending further case law review, whereby the Brabners ruling is certain to be the new normal, we will review our positon on charging VAT on all searches. 

We're testing conveyancers assumptions about mining risks in the UK by asking “What percentage of all mining-related ground stability risks does coal mining account for?”.

The results are still coming in. However, it is expected that the poll findings will support the long-standing assumption that coal mining is the prime ground stability risk that conveyancers need to be concerned about.

Beyond this, it is typically considered that properties across Wales and the North East are the most likely to be affected. Yet such assumptions are causing some conveyancers to ignore the mining alerts triggered when ordering searches against their client’s properties; assuming that they are safe. 

Rather worryingly, examples of sinkholes opening up miles away from these traditional coal mining sites are beginning to suggest that this is far from the truth, as recently seen in Cheltenham, Liverpool, Sudbury and London.

There are over 60 mining hazards impacting ground stability in our towns and cities

The latest TerraSearch products from Terrafirma are challenging this perception too. Drawing on Terrafirma’s specialist knowledge in the innovation and provision of mining-instability risk assessment, the TerraSearch product suite analyses coal mining risks alongside an additional 55 mining hazards to reveal a fuller picture of ground stability in our towns and cities.

The following TerraSearch® products are now available on tmconvey to order against residential and commercial properties :

• TerraSearch® Coal Extra is a regulated ‘Con29M-Compliant’ coal mining search offering an equivalent to the Coal Authority report, including a professional opinion of all coal mining risks and CON29M questions and additionally alerting to 55 further mining hazards. 

• TerraSearch® Assess is a single search that comprehensively assesses the risk to a site (property and land) from all 60 mining hazards, including past, present and planned extraction.

Both TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess include additional professional interpretations, as well as a TerraSearch® Coal & Brine Report Indemnity Policy up to £50,000 loss in market value of the property (in the event that a conclusion changes based on the addition of new data), and £10 million liability per report in the event of wrong or missing information.  

TerraSearch® Coal Extra and TerraSearch® Assess are also supported by a TerraSearch® Alert, which will be available on tmconvey from Friday 20th October.

You can see a TerraSearch® Coal Extra sample here and a TerraSearch® Assess sample here.

Get in touch with your Account Manager for more information.

Don’t forget… 

Find out if you are making dangerous assumptions about local mining risks

Take part in our quick poll “What percentage of all mining-related ground stability risks does coal mining account for?” and find out if you too are making dangerous assumptions about local mining risks. 

Ahead of our Risky Business Roadshow, Graeme McGowan from BeCyberSure explains why 95% of data losses involve “insiders” and how you can help to reduce the risk in your law firm:

“Disgruntled employees may be more liable to pose as insider threats out of a desire for revenge, a plan to steal data and sell it to competitors, or simple greed combined with lack of respect for the law firm. 

To help manage the risk and better protect your firm from insider threats, you should make a conscious effort to monitor any disgruntled employees. If possible, you should also make an effort to address the source of their unhappiness to improve the situation.”

Join us for our Risky Business Roadshow to find out more

Graeme McGowan will be part of our guest speaker line-up at our Risky Business Roadshow events this November, which will explore how firms can better protect, prepare and promote their businesses. 

Click here to see our full list of dates and locations

Ahead of our Risky Business Roadshow, Tom Backhouse from Terrafirma explains why when it comes to environmental risks the absence of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of absence:

“The age of solely relying on data in environmental risk assessment is over, with a visible shift in the way professionals perceive risks such as contaminated land and flood. Where historically data alone was enough to accept due diligence, now both a professional opinion and interpretative data modelling is a standard in assessing and managing these environmental hazards.

However, despite the significant annual financial expenditure (between 4% and 15% of all Buildings Insurance Claims in the past 5 years were attributed to subsidence) and the increasing visibility of the ‘Sinkhole’ phenomena, this shift in due diligence process has not been replicated in assessing the risks the ground pose. 

Until now. Recent revisions in due diligence practice is changing the way the risks such as mining, ground stability, planning and fracking are perceived and acted upon. 

Ensure you and your client are informed by acquiring an expert report, driven by data but protected by a professional opinion and robust professional indemnity.”

Join us for our Risky Business Roadshow to find out more

Tom Backhouse will be part of our guest speaker line-up at our Risky Business Roadshow events this November, which will explore how firms can better protect, prepare and promote their businesses. 

Click here to see our full list of dates and locations

Ahead of our Risky Business Roadshow, Rich Dibbins from Conscious Solutions explains why having great images on your website won't automatically win your firm new business:

“Making sure your firm has a website that attracts and converts new business is about more than just refreshing the images every once in a while.

When reviewing your website, you need to think about how you plan to convert a prospect once they arrive. For example, is it easy for them to find your phone number or send you an email?

You should also consider adding interactive features and looking into the tools you can use to analyse your website’s performance.” 

Join us for our Risky Business Roadshow to find out more

Rich Dibbins will be part of our guest speaker line-up at our Risky Business Roadshow events this November, which will explore how firms can better protect, prepare and promote their businesses. 

Click here to see our full list of dates and locations

Homes being swallowed up by sinkholes is something most people would expect to see in a horror film, yet similar stories are making the headlines with alarming regularity and the problem is only getting worse. 

Sinkholes are opening up everywhere from Cheltenham to Liverpool and even London, bringing into question much of what conveyancers (and the general public) thought they knew about mining and the risks it poses to ground stability in the UK.

Are you making dangerous assumptions about local mining risks?

South Wales, Cornwall and the North East are well-known locations for historical mining activity, prompting local conveyancers to stay aware of the connected risks. Yet those working in central and eastern England and London are less concerned – and even assume there aren’t any risks that will affect their clients’ properties which couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Mining activity has taken place across the UK for 100’s of years with the availability of minerals shaping the growth of towns and cities the length and breadth of the country, as well as shaping their unique character (which is why the likes of Bath and Worcester look so different). The reality is that historical mining could affect almost any location in the UK so professional due diligence is essential when purchasing a property.

Forgotten shafts

Unlike the high-profile strikes surrounding the closure of the coal mines in the 1980’s, many other local mines across the country closed quietly during the turn of the 20th Century with the last large-scale mines closing in the 1960’s. With no legislation in existence or money to fill them in, 98% of these mines were abandoned and forgotten.

At the time, local communities remembered where the mineshafts had been located and therefore the land was used as open areas for parks rather than homes. As time has worn on much of this information has been lost and the open spaces unknowingly bought up and built upon by developers after which ground stability problems have emerged. Lack of data and expert professional interpretation, as well as NHBC regulations (which only require due diligence of the top 2m of the ground) have contributed to this risky oversight resulting in costly repair bills for developers and in extreme cases entire developments have been demolished such as the Bayfield, West Allotment Site in Tyneside. 

Cases in point

Recent sinkholes in Reading, St. Albans and Kent serve as a stark reminder as to the risk historical mining activity can have on ground stability. 

Houses, shops and schools that have, in most cases, unwittingly been built above these old mine shafts are suffering from a number of issues, such as subsidence and the appearance of collapses and mining sinkholes. 

Here are just some of the examples that have made the headlines in recent years: 

30 homes were evacuated in Reading when an old chalk mine collapsed 

In January 2000, a 19th Century chalk mine collapsed causing major subsidence of the overlying ground around the Field Road and Coley Road area in Reading.

30 homes were evacuated for residents’ safety and a further 2 homes later collapsed. It took 12 years to fill the underground chalk mines with 1,742 tonnes of grouting, costing approximately £4.3 million.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-13630363

A giant mining sinkhole in St. Albans cut off utilities to over 50 properties

On 1st October, 2015, a giant sinkhole opened up in Fontmell Close, St Albans. It was 66ft wide and 30ft deep, cutting off utilities to over 50 properties and forcing families to evacuate their homes. 

The hole was created by heavy rainfall causing a previously unknown chalk mine to collapse. The void required 48 lorry-loads of foamed concrete to fill.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-38156508

Several shops were forced to close when a mining sinkhole appeared in Kent

In early 2015 at Lawrence Square, Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, the appearance of a sinkhole forced several shops to close and 7 sets of council tenants to be evacuated for fears of more subsidence.

Continued subsidence forced the gas supply to be shut off and the area was declared unsuitable for permanent habitation. The area was heavily mined for chalk and clay during the 19th Century with many chalk mines and mining-related sinkholes already known in the immediate area around Lawrence Square. 

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/tenants-rehomed-due-to-dangerous-32861/ 

Terrafirma are helping conveyancers and homeowners understand the full extent of mining risks 

Using their specialist knowledge, Terrafirma analyse coal mining risks alongside an additional 55 mining hazards to reveal a fuller picture of ground stability in our towns and cities.

To find out more about how Terrafirma can uncover the truth about mining in your local area, you can also read this blog post.