UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Colin Rodrigues and Harminder Sandhu, Hawkins Hatton Corporate Lawyers Ltd
2.7 Soil Pollution or Environmental Contamination Land is considered contaminated where sub - stances either are causing or could cause: • significant harm to people, property or pro - tected species; • significant pollution of surface waters or groundwater; or • harm to people as a result of radioactivity. Generally, the person who caused or allowed the contamination to occur is liable for it unless they cannot be identified or the local council/ environmental agency considers them exempt. The council may decide that the landowner or the person who occupies the land is liable for the contamination. Owners or occupiers who cause contamination remain liable after the disposition of the land, whereas an owner/occupier who is not a polluter has no liability when their owner - ship or occupation of the property ceases. 2.8 Permitted Uses of Real Estate Under Zoning or Planning Law A local authority search will identify the permit - ted use of a parcel of land and whether this use has planning permission. Where the property does not have planning per - mission for the permitted use, the seller/occu - pier of a commercial property can obtain a lawful development certificate for existing use or devel - opment, provided it can show that the property has been used for that purpose for a continuous period of ten years or more. A local authority can take no enforcement action once ten years have elapsed from the date of the breach (ie, the date on which the unlawful use of the property started).
An indemnity policy is usually readily available for providing cover to protect against the risk of any enforcement action. In relation to a building completed more than four years ago, where the building has been used as a dwelling for more than four years, a lawful development certificate can be obtained. It is possible to obtain authorisation from the local authority in respect of change of use, and it is always recommended that, prior to any devel - opment work, clients obtain the relevant plan - ning permission from the local authority. This planning permission will include the permission required to undertake the planned works and to use the property following completion. The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 intro - duced substantial changes to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987. These changes came into force from 1 Septem - ber 2020. The key changes are: • Classes A, B1 and D1, applicable to retail, office and non-residential institutions, and to assembly and leisure, have been removed and replaced with a new Class E; • there is also a new Class F1 and F2 relevant to education, learning and non-residential local community institutions; and • some uses (for example, as a public house, cinema and bingo hall), which used to have their own class, have now moved into the sui generis category. The above changes are subject to transitional arrangements.
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