Would You Buy a House in a Area with Prescribed Ground Water Contamination?

DealSa on 30/05/2020 - 22:50

I bought a house just over a year ago and recently became aware that the area has ground water contamination.

My home is on the outskirts of the testing area where the contamination is very low but still detectable. Currently the EPA are in their final stages of testing and by the end of the year the area will be declared a Prescribed Ground Water Contamination Area. When it becomes a declared area and if/when I sell my home the contamination details will be made available via the form1 so that all buyers are aware. The EPA say the contamination is moving at approx .5mtr per year and in the direction of my house. They also say extensive research into property values in similar situations have been conducted and there is little to no decrease in property values.

I would love to hear your views on whether you would buy in such an area and whether you think i should sell up before the area is declared.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • brendanm on 30/05/2020 - 23:09
    +6

    What is it contaminates with? But no, no I wouldn't. Same as a place with HV powerlines nearby. Even if it's not an issue for me, it sure might be for someone when I go to sell, and I don't want that hassle.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 31/05/2020 - 00:18
    +1

    No

  • t_c on 31/05/2020 - 07:20
    +4

    F**k No

  • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2020 - 07:30
    +1

    Absolutely not.

  • elgrande on 31/05/2020 - 07:31
    +2

    Depends if you have a pool…

  • matt3 on 31/05/2020 - 08:00
    +1

    I got kids. Extra double 'No'

  • newak on 31/05/2020 - 08:13
    +1

    no

  • EightImmortals on 31/05/2020 - 08:26
    +1

    Nope

  • jnewau on 31/05/2020 - 08:35
    +3

    Residents near Williamtown RAAF base in NSW saw their properties become basically worthless and impossible to sell when PFAS contamination was found. I would be getting the hell out of there asap.

  • ihbh on 31/05/2020 - 09:11
    +2

    Have edible garden - no.

  • wittyusername on 31/05/2020 - 09:37
    +1

    A lot of variables really. How deep is groundwater, do you have a bore, what are the contaminants?
    Anyone within the vicinity of an older petrol station is likely to have groundwater contamination.

    Even if all of those questions mean you're not affected, I still think someone doing their due diligence before buying would be likely to look at that and be put off.

    Not sure what other states use, but people in WA can access the DWER's contaminated sites database, and see all reported contaminated sites.

    • fantombloo on 31/05/2020 - 10:29
      +1

      A lot of variables really.

      Including the price. If it's good enough, and depending on your / other's intentions with the house, it may offset other concerns

  • whooah1979 on 31/05/2020 - 18:17

    Buy it cheap as an investment and rent it out.

  • Jade81 on 31/05/2020 - 19:01

    No, it's resale price will be nothing once that's on your title

  • suchislife on 01/06/2020 - 21:38
    +1

    Is this around Clovelly Park? I used to live there and it was a fantastic area, location wise. I don't think many people will care about the contamination there, as it's not used for farming etc.

    • DealSa on 03/06/2020 - 10:07

      Im in the western suburbs, 10 mins to city. EPA say they have done extensive research into house prices and say there is no significate change. I think there would be if you are situated ontop of a hotspot within a plume. luckily im on the outskirts of a plume but still contaminated.

      • suchislife on 04/06/2020 - 22:21

        That's probably an even better area. I can't see the prices going down in any inner metro area because of that. Some people might get put off, but most wouldn't care at all. If you were in the outskirts where there is plenty of land, different story for sure.

        • DealSa on 05/06/2020 - 19:50

          houses are currently popping up for sale daily…i think its a sign

  • [Deactivated] on 03/06/2020 - 17:07
    +1

    A mate bought a house about 100m from a HV powerline. He paid a fair price for it , demolished the existing building and built a really nice 4 bedroom house on it . 3 years later, his marriage fell apart and they are trying to sell the house and the only offer they've received so far is 25% under asking price. Someone actually asked his RE whether there was a risk of getting COVID19 from the HV powerlines :

    " If you can catch it from living too close to a 5G tower , how can we ever be certain that you can't catch it from HV lines?," that person pondered and then walked away.

    Like @brendanm has said up there, even if you don't have a problem with it, others will .

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