Groundsure vs Landmark: Which Environmental Search Do You Need?

Do you get to choose?

Usually not. Your conveyancer orders the environmental search as part of the search pack, and most firms use one provider for every case. It is worth asking which they use, and whether their report includes the coal mining search, because in a former coalfield that can save a separate CON29M search.

How Groundsure's reports compare

Groundsure lists three homebuyer reports. Homescreen at £62.95 covers contaminated land, a building and site-wide flood assessment and planning constraints. Homebuyers at £92.60 adds climate change, energy, transport and nearby planning applications. Avista at £138.90 adds the CON29M coal mining search, non-coal mining and Cheshire salt, for sites up to 15 hectares.

How Landmark's reports compare

Landmark's residential range runs from Homecheck Residential (from about £62 + VAT) through Envirosearch (from about £89 + VAT) to RiskView Residential (from about £136 + VAT). Landmark sells to conveyancers and search providers rather than direct to buyers, so these prices come from reseller lists rather than Landmark itself.

The cheaper step before either

Both providers' reports arrive after your offer, as part of a search pack that one firm prices at £199.62 including VAT. Before that, HomeBuyerCheck screens the address in seconds: free for the Environment Agency river and sea flood zone, sales history, EPC, crime and schools, or £4.99 to add British Geological Survey ground hazards, radon, the coal mining reporting area and planning overlays.

It does not check contaminated land, so it does not replace either search. It tells you whether a house has an obvious problem before you pay for one.