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| Mon, 22nd Mar 2021 18:15:00 |
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‘Explosive’ legal opinion says agents may be negligent if they do not disclose air pollution levels |
A campaign group is urging people to sign an online petition demanding that estate agents – and property websites like Rightmove and Zoopla – disclose air quality information to buyers and renters at the earliest opportunity.
COPI, the Central Office of Public Interest, is backing up its call with what it calls an ‘explosive’ twenty-page QC’s legal opinion which says there is a ‘strong legal argument’ that estate agents not doing so would be ‘negligent’.
addresspollution.org gives free air-quality reports for every address in the United Kingdom using annualised data, accurate to 20 meters squared, to reveal the levels of three toxic pollutants – PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 – at each address.
PM (Particulate Matter) are particles in the air that reduce visibility and cause haze. NO2 is nitrous oxide that chemically contributes to the creation of PM and of itself can cause irritation in human lungs.
The data, from Imperial College London, is displayed in an Air Quality Report (AQR). The AQR gives each address a Low, Medium, Significant, High or Very High rating.
The ratings are based around the World Health Organisation limits – a ‘Significant’ rating means the address exceeds the limit for one pollutant. The health implications for living at the address are also given.
Commenting on the data and legal findings – and the potential effect on agents’ responsibilities – the Property Ombudsman, Rebecca Marsh, said:
“Air pollution is information all consumers should be aware of, before they make a decision on a specific property. Arguably, this is material information that all sellers or landlords should be providing to potential buyers or tenants.”
The new national rating system also reveals the best and worst UK addresses for air pollution.
On London’s famous Harley Street 100% of addresses have a ‘Very High’ rating. Properties in this area cost over £2.3 million on average. At the other end of the scale, in HU7 4, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, homes are worth just under £150,000 on average. Yet every address has a ‘Low’ rating.
With such detailed data now publicly available, and increased understanding of the health impacts of living with toxic air, UK mortgage lenders are also keen to understand the potential impact on property prices in high pollution areas.
Mark Cunningham, CEO and co-founder of Whenfresh, which supplies property data to lenders, said:
“Air pollution has a major impact on human health and as public awareness of this issue grows, and the problem isn’t dealt with, it will clearly have an impact on the saleability and value of properties in high pollution areas.
“So like asbestos, radon, flood risk and Japanese knotweed, if data is available the mortgage lenders will want to understand it. Lenders take any environmental issues that might impact the value of the properties they effectively co-own very seriously.”
The site, and the addresspollution.org campaign, is the initiative of the Central Office of Public Interest (COPI), a ‘non profit creative industry alliance’ founded in 2018, ‘to make and run awareness campaigns to deepen public understanding on issues that matter to people, but which government prefers to ignore.’
Humphrey Milles, founder of the Central Office of Public Interest, said: “Air pollution affects everyone. It is a dangerous, invisible killer. With this national roll out, it would be shameful for the property industry to not start acting in an honest, transparent way. Lives depend on it. Everyone has a right to know what they’re breathing. ”
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