James Sherwood-Rogers, Managing Director of Landmark Legal and Financial comments: “The introduction of Home Reports in Scotland will hopefully make the process of buying a house faster and more transparent. However, homebuyers need to be aware that much of this report is based on the opinion of the surveyor and homeowner and therefore should be treated with caution. In the current market where house prices are not stable, many banks offering mortgages have indicated that they will still require buyers to commission their own survey report and valuation to ensure up to date and accurate information.”
“Furthermore homebuyers should not see the Home Report as a one-stop all inclusive pack of information about a specific property. Particularly where environmental issues are of concern a homebuyer would still have to purchase a separate report. Scotland has seen increasing cases of properties affected by land contamination and a detailed property-specific report is the only way to establish whether there are any underlying issues.
“Research undertaken by Landmark Information Group (Landmark Data Index – based on Potentially Contaminative Industrial Uses (Past Land Use – all classes)) indicates that around 40% of homes in Glasgow and in Edinburgh are located within 100 metres of potentially contaminated land so you cannot rely on local knowledge alone”.
