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Environmental searches

Environmental searches help you make important decisions about development and or the purchase of domestic, commercial or industrial land and property.

We offer three types of searches.

Simple contaminated land search

Contaminated land searches are useful to solicitors or individuals who are interested in the legal or contamination status of a particular site or property. They give details, where available, of:

  • status of the site under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990
  • past industrial use(s) of the property or site and surrounding area within 250m radius of the property or site
  • the property or site’s prioritisation for inspection under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, where appropriate or to confirm whether there is an entry on the public register 
  • list of unlicensed, pre-licensed, closed or active landfill sites within a 250-metre radius of the property or site

Simple contaminated land searches cost £131

Full environmental search

Full environmental searches are targeted at environmental consultants, research organisations and individuals who want to find out a wide range of information on a particular site, including activity in the surrounding area, to help prepare preliminary risk assessments. A Full Environmental Search includes all information provided within a Simple Environmental Search, together with additional, site specific environmental detail, where available, including:

  • Part A2 and Part B Installations within a 250-metre radius of the property or site
  • private water supplies within a 250-metre radius of the property or site
  • confirmation of if site is located within an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) or smoke control area
  • active environmental enforcement notice(s) served on the property.

A full environmental search costs £228.

Private water supply (PWS) search

Private water supply searches are targeted at environmental consultants, research organisations and individuals who are interested in finding out private water supply extraction data in a particular area. They give details (where available) of:

  • the type of water extraction
  • the use of water extraction
  • the general location of water extraction

Simple private water supply searches cost £131

Requesting a search 

Contact the Regulatory Support Team by:

email: RegSupport@northyorks.gov.uk 
telephone: 0300 131 2131

You must send us a plan showing the site and its clearly defined boundary. This can be a printed copy by post or by email as a PDF file.

If you require a full environmental search, you must specify what data you require, including any additional data not listed.

Search data

We aim to provide search information within 21 working days of payment.

We do not issue environmental certificates confirming the presence or otherwise of any contamination on the site for mortgages or other purposes.


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The council provides services across North Yorkshire including Harrogate, Ripon, Scarborough, Whitby, Northallerton, Thirsk, Selby, Tadcaster, Malton, Pickering, Richmond, Skipton and more.

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