Terrafirma Announce the First Comprehensive Coastal Hazards Risk Assessment to Enhance Market-Leading Ground Report

From the 14th September 2020, the Terrafirma Ground Report will include the first comprehensive, property-specific assessment of risk from coastal hazards, supported by expert interpretation.

This, alongside an integrated official CON29M, All Other Mining, Natural Ground Perils, Ground Movement, Radon, Oil and Gas Activity and Mineral Planning, makes the Terrafirma Ground Report the most comprehensive conveyancing report available.

The Ground Report is the original ground risk report that provides clients with the professional opinion of Terrafirma’s geologists, scientists, and mining engineers on the risk of mining and natural ground stability affecting a transaction. Behind the scenes Terrafirma scientists have worked with partners to make this long-awaited update to their market-leading Ground Report.

Terrafirma’s in-house expertise is embedded in every report, enabling conveyancers and their clients to access risk assessment from professionals who understand the ground. This differentiates the Ground Report from other ground stability or mining reports, as it has been designed for use by conveyancers, homebuyers and lenders, meaning you do not have to be qualified in environmental risk assessment to use the report or understand its recommendations.

Tom Backhouse, CEO and Founder of Terrafirma, said:

“At Terrafirma, we have made it our mission to enable property professionals to understand the ground. We have led the way in innovatively translating ground risk into expert opinion and professional advice for conveyancing, but coastal hazards were the problem left to solve and our experts have worked tirelessly to make it a reality.”

The coast comprises a complex group of dynamic and interlinked hazards. The perpetual erosion of our shores by the sea and a rapidly changing climate constantly change coastal landforms and exert severe pressure on existing sea defences, threatening property value, livelihoods, and infrastructure.

Recognising the importance of understanding the risks to property and land from coastal hazards prior to purchase, investment or development, Terrafirma’s team of geologists have spent months aggregating and geoprocessing millions of datapoints from the Environment Agency and the British Geological Survey to enhance the existing National Coastal Risk Map and repurpose the data for Conveyancing due diligence.

Including data on sea defences, shoreline management, local geology, landslides, sea level rise, coastal flooding, terrain, land use and erosion, the experts at Terrafirma have applied advanced logic and risk assessment to ensure that for the first time, property professionals, mortgage lenders and prospective homeowners have a complete understanding of coastal hazards.

Dr Tim Farewell, Terrafirma’s Science and Communications Director, said:

“It is vital to understand the environmental hazard before you can assess the risk to a property. Until now, obtaining expert risk assessment and advice on coastal hazards was prohibitively expensive. However, with this update of our Ground Report with a new Coastal Hazards module, prospective homeowners (and their conveyancers) can now be well-informed to the risks, both at the point of transaction and in the future, under more extreme climates. We are really excited about delivering this update to the property sector.”

As an island nation, the coast is intrinsically linked to our history and to millions of people’s livelihoods. However, our perspective of the coast may well begin to change over the coming years. Property, land, and infrastructure along the coast will be put under severe pressure from a changing climate and the risk of landslip, erosion and coastal flooding will increase dramatically.

It is estimated in a recent Financial Times report that approximately £1 billion worth of UK property will be lost to sea over the next 80 years.

Speak to a preferred provider about latest updates, available on Monday 14th September.

Last chance to register for Terrafirma’s educational series: UK Ground Hazards and Property: The Risk You Need to Know. Join the experts as they break down ground hazards into digestible, jargon-free and engaging content, with a number of case studies that highlight the real risks to property and land across the UK.

 

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