Raising consumer awareness of coastal erosion risk

A new consumer awareness website has been launched to help conveyancers and home movers understand the risks associated with coastal erosion. CoastClear is a partnership launched by Groundsure with Chief Customer Officer David Kempster joining the latest Today's Conveyancer podcast to explain more about the objectives behind the initiative.There are c.10,000 homes that are now at serious, imminent risk of falling off a cliff; and by 2050 that will quadruple to 40,000. There is, says David, a degree of rose tinted spectacles when it comes to purchasing property near the coast. People buy with their heart, not their head, and this is an effort to raise consumer awareness of the associated risks.Coastal erosion creates a lending risk as the coastline moves steadily closer to homes nearby, particularly in areas like Norfolk and Suffolk. Coupled with the general trend toward longer mortgages, properties which may at one time have been considered fine to lend on, become unmortgageable. Unlike flood, which can be cleared and cleaned, coastal erosion causes a total loss of asset for both the bank and homeowners, and they simply won't lend.In a similar vein, when it comes to remortgaging, lending decisions evolve during the course of property ownership as the sea edges closer to the property.While the website (www.coastclear.co.uk) is aimed at consumers, the partnership is part of the wider climate considerations that home movers, and conveyancers now undertake. We're already reporting on ground stability and subsidence says David, this is one element to flag which affected home movers. It is also part of the Law Society's climate guidance which is due to be ratified in the coming months.Home movers increasingly want and need this information and so as professionals should we be pointing them at resources that can help. Conveyancers are encouraged to engage with it and make sure they're signposting home movers to the postcode checker on the website which will provide an indicating of whether the property is at risk.The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack