Glossary · UK
What is Coal Authority Search?
A conveyancing search revealing historical or current coal mining activity beneath or near a property, including risks of subsidence, mine entries and past compensation claims.
Full Definition
A Coal Authority search (formally the CON29M mining search, alongside the Coal Authority's own report) is a specialist conveyancing search carried out when a property is located in a coalfield area, revealing whether the property is affected by past, current or planned coal mining activity, including the presence of recorded mine entries (shafts or adits) within a set distance of the property, historical subsidence damage claims, and any current or future underground or surface coal mining operations nearby. The report matters because past coal mining can cause ground movement (subsidence) affecting a property's structure years or even decades after mining activity has ended, and because a property built over or near an old, unrecorded mine entry can face additional risks that are not always visible from a simple visual inspection. Lenders in coalfield areas commonly require a coal mining search as a standard condition of the mortgage offer, and if the search reveals specific issues -- such as a recorded but unresolved subsidence claim, or a nearby unfilled mine entry -- a buyer's solicitor will typically raise further enquiries with the seller, the Coal Authority, or recommend a more detailed structural survey before proceeding. The Coal Authority also operates a compensation scheme for genuine subsidence damage caused by historical coal mining, and maintains records that can help homeowners establish, retrospectively, whether damage to their property is linked to historical mining activity beneath or near their land.