Safety & Risk
Crime, health hazards, and safety considerations
2080 Climate Flood Outlook
Long-term projection under Met Office scenarios
The 2080 climate flood outlook projects how flood risk at an address changes as the climate warms. The Environment Agency models it within the National Flood Risk Assessment, using Met Office UK Climate Projections. It carries a direction of travel, rising, stable or falling, and the band the models reach. Coverage is England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their own assessments.
Crime Risk
Neighbourhood safety score from police records
This safety score rates a neighbourhood from 0 to 100, where higher is safer. It draws on nearby police-recorded incidents from data.police.uk, weighted by seriousness and how recent each is. Scores cover England and Wales. Scotland's police do not publish this data, and Northern Ireland uses different neighbourhood boundaries.
Flood Defences
Engineered structures and their standard of protection
Flood defences are engineered structures that hold back water: embankments, walls, barriers and sluices. The Environment Agency maps those it owns, manages or inspects, and the flood severity each is designed to withstand. Coverage is England; the other UK nations map their defences separately.
High Flood Risk
Zone 3 in England
Flood Zone 3 is the highest band on the Environment Agency's flood map for planning in England. It covers land with at least a 1 in 100 (1%) annual chance of river flooding. The sea threshold is 1 in 200 (0.5%), and neither figure allows for flood defences. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland map flood risk their own way, and Scotland uses likelihood categories rather than zones.
Historic Landfill Site
Ground where waste was once buried
A historic landfill site is land where waste was buried, usually before modern licensing rules applied. As the waste breaks down it can give off methane and carbon dioxide. It can also leave contamination in the ground. Each UK nation's environmental regulator maps these sites, and the local authority holds its own records alongside them.
Historic Mining Area
Ground stability where coal or minerals were worked
A historic mining area is land with a record of past mining, where old workings can shift the ground. Most flagged areas are former coalfields. Others cover tin and other metal mining, salt or brine workings, or limestone, gypsum, clay and chalk extraction. The Mining Remediation Authority holds the coal record for England, Wales and Scotland, but not for Northern Ireland.
Japanese Knotweed
Invasive plant that lenders treat as a defect
Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant with bamboo-like canes and a deep rhizome root system. It regrows from tiny root fragments, spreads laterally, and exploits gaps in hard surfaces and drains. Surveyors assess it against a RICS professional standard, which sorts an infestation into four management categories. This report holds no knotweed dataset; it reaches a buyer through the seller's declaration or a survey.
Lead Plumbing Risk
Drinking water in pre-1970 pipework
Lead plumbing risk is an age-based flag, not a survey finding. Homes built before 1970 may still have lead water pipes, which can leach lead into drinking water. Lead is a health hazard, most of all for young children and during pregnancy. Lead pipework fell out of use around 1970, so the flag keys on the build date, UK-wide.
Low Flood Risk
Zone 1 in England
Flood Zone 1 is the lowest of the Environment Agency's flood zones for England. It covers land with less than a 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) annual chance of river or sea flooding. Zones cover rivers and the sea only, not surface water from heavy rainfall. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland map flood risk under their own schemes.
Medium Flood Risk
Zone 2 in England
Flood Zone 2 is the Environment Agency's middle flood zone for England, modelled before flood defences are counted. It covers land with a 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) to 1 in 100 (1%) annual chance of river flooding. The sea range is 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 200 (0.5%). Flood zones are an England classification, and the other UK nations use their own.
Radon Gas Risk
Natural radioactivity from the ground beneath
Radon is a radioactive gas released as uranium decays in rocks and soils. It seeps into buildings from the ground, and long exposure indoors raises the risk of lung cancer. Radon potential is the percentage of homes expected above the UK action level of 200 becquerels per cubic metre. The UK Health Security Agency publishes the maps through its UKradon service, covering all four nations.