Landfill Check by Postcode — Former Landfill Within 1 km

Enter a postcode and this check reads the Environment Agency's historic landfill record: how many former landfill sites lie within 1 km of the postcode point, the nearest one with its distance, years in use and recorded waste types, and whether the point itself sits inside a mapped footprint. Permitted landfill within 2 km and substantiated pollution incidents within 1 km are counted alongside. England only.

No signup. Postcode-point screen of the Environment Agency's historic landfill, permitted landfill and pollution-incident records (England). Used under the Environment Agency Conditional Licence.

This check runs on screen, no signup. The full property report is £9.99 Lite / £24.99 Complete — one report, one price, no subscription.

What this landfill check reads

Three Environment Agency records, all keyless and all England-only. The Historic Landfill Sites layer holds the mapped footprints of former tips with the first and last dates waste was recorded, the waste types flagged (inert, household, commercial, industrial, special, liquid sludge) and whether gas or leachate control is recorded. The Permitted Waste Sites — Authorised Landfill Boundaries layer holds current and recently closed landfill permits with their status. The Environmental Pollution Incidents (Category 1 and 2) file holds substantiated major and significant incidents by location. Distances are measured from the postcode point to the edge of each footprint, and a point inside a footprint is reported as such.

How to read the result

What you seeWhat it usually means for a buyer
Inside a former landfill footprintExpect the environmental search to flag it. Ask about a gas membrane or ventilated floor void, past movement or underpinning, and get an insurance quote that discloses it.
Former landfill within 250 mThe 'nearby' range most searches use. Ask what the search returns and have the CON29 3.13 contaminated-land enquiry raised with the council.
Sites within 1 km, none within 250 mThe search will name them; direct effect on a home is unusual. Worth knowing which sites before your solicitor does.
Nothing within 1 kmLandfill is unlikely to be the search's finding — but the council register is a separate record and is not read here.

What a former landfill nearby means in practice

Three things follow from a tip close by. Ground gas: decomposing household and commercial waste produces methane and carbon dioxide for decades, and the gases can migrate sideways through permeable ground; homes built on or beside old tips are often required to have a gas membrane and a ventilated void, and the question is whether this one does. Settlement: landfilled ground compacts unevenly long after tipping stops, so a building on or at the edge of a footprint can show differential movement — a surveyor who knows the tip is there will look for it. Insurance and lending: a desktop search flags landfill within about 250 m and can return a 'further action' result; that does not stop a purchase, but it usually means a second-stage report and more questions from the insurer.

What this check does not cover

It does not read the council's statutory contaminated-land register kept under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 — there is no national dataset of it, and each council publishes its own in its own format. It holds no ground-gas monitoring data and no site-investigation results. It does not map made or infilled ground that was never a licensed tip. It covers England only; Natural Resources Wales, SEPA and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency hold the equivalent records elsewhere, and the result says so rather than printing a false 'none found'.

What the report adds

The Lite and Complete reports carry a Contaminated land, landfill & environmental permits section for the address: every former landfill site within 1 km measured to the edge of its footprint, with whether it lies under the address, its years in use and what is recorded about gas and leachate control; every permitted landfill boundary within 2 km with status, permit reference and date issued; substantiated pollution incidents within 1 km, recent and older, with the publisher's information warning; the environmental permits and discharges within 1 km de-duplicated by site, with storm-overflow spill counts printed beside the permits whose references match the annual return; and the statutory Part 2A register named as held by the council and not read, with the CON29 route to obtain it. The section ends with the step to raise with your conveyancer and, where a tip lies under or within 250 m, the questions for the seller's solicitor and your surveyor. See the environmental search guide for how this sits alongside the conveyancer's search, or browse former landfill sites by outcode.

Frequently asked questions

This check tells you whether the postcode point falls inside an Environment Agency historic landfill footprint and how far the nearest footprint edge is. A postcode covers several houses, so a point inside or close to a footprint is a reason to ask the seller, the surveyor and your conveyancer — it is not proof that one particular house stands on fill. The council's statutory contaminated-land register, which is not read here, is the other record that matters.
Desktop environmental searches typically flag former landfill within about 250 metres and can return a 'further action' result at that range; lenders usually expect the conveyancer to resolve it before exchange. Between 250 m and 1 km a search names the site but rarely requires more. Beyond 1 km the site is context. Distance is measured to the edge of the mapped footprint, not its centre.
Historic landfill is the Environment Agency's record of sites that took waste before the modern permitting regime, mostly compiled from 1990s surveys. Permitted (authorised) landfill holds or held an environmental permit under the current regime and may still be in aftercare for gas and leachate. Contaminated land is a legal determination made by the council under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and kept on a register this check cannot read.
It can prompt questions rather than refusals. Lenders rely on the conveyancer's environmental search; a 'further action' result usually leads to a second-stage report or an insurer's confirmation. Insurers may ask about ground-gas protection and past movement. Disclose what you know when quoting — a tip 800 m away is unlikely to change a premium; a footprint under the garden is a conversation.
The council's Part 2A contaminated-land register (ask your conveyancer to raise CON29 enquiry 3.13), any ground-gas monitoring results, made or infilled ground that was never a licensed tip, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, whose regulators publish their own landfill records. The Environment Agency's historic record is also known to be incomplete, with many sites lacking dates.
Yes, if your lender or conveyancer requires one — and most do. The search reads more layers than this check (including the council register, flood and radon) and gives a professional opinion. What this check does is tell you, before you pay, whether landfill is likely to be one of the things it flags.

Related tools

Storm Overflow CheckFlood Risk CheckerSubsidence Risk CheckerAir Quality Checker

Last updated: