Coal Authority mining search UK 2026, the CON29M explained
If you are selling a house anywhere in the former South Yorkshire coalfield, the buyer's conveyancer will order a CON29M coal mining search before exchange. Around 80% of Barnsley, 75% of Rotherham, 60% of Doncaster and a quarter of Sheffield sits inside a Development High Risk Area. This 2026 guide explains who issues the CON29M now that the Coal Authority has been renamed, what it costs, what it shows, why mortgage lenders downvalue or refuse on shallow workings, and why cash buyers can complete on properties high-street lenders walk away from.
Quick answer: The CON29M Residential coal mining search costs £35.10 in 2026, returns within 5 working days, and is issued by the Mining Remediation Authority: the new name (from 22 May 2024) for the Coal Authority, still headquartered at 200 Lichfield Lane, Mansfield NG18 4RG. Any property in a coal mining reporting area must have one before a mortgage lender will release funds. If the search flags shallow workings under 30m, mine entries within 20m, or unsettled subsidence claims, expect mortgage offers to be withdrawn or downvalued, but a cash buyer can still complete. If you are stuck on the open market because of a coal mining flag, see our deep guide on selling a house in poor condition.
What the CON29M actually is
The CON29M Residential is the only coal mining search endorsed by the Law Society and accepted by every UK mortgage lender, the Building Societies Association and UK Finance. It is produced from the official coal reporting dataset held by the Mining Remediation Authority, the public body that took over the Coal Authority's name and statutory functions on 22 May 2024 under the Mining Remediation Authority (Change of Name) Order 2024. The headquarters at 200 Lichfield Lane, Mansfield NG18 4RG and the statutory remit under the Coal Industry Act 1994 are unchanged, only the name on the door.
For a residential transaction, the conveyancer orders the CON29M alongside the local authority CON29 and water/drainage CON29DW searches. The report runs to between four and twelve pages depending on what the dataset returns, and answers a fixed list of questions set by the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol.
What appears on a CON29M
The CON29M isn't a free-form report, it answers eleven set questions about the property. The headline items every buyer's solicitor will look at are:
- Past underground workings. Any recorded coal seams worked beneath the property, the depth, the seam name, and the year of working. Many seams in South Yorkshire were worked between the 1840s and the 1980s.
- Present underground workings. Active mining is now essentially nil in the UK following the closure of Kellingley Colliery in December 2015, but the search still confirms there are no current licences.
- Proposed underground workings. Any planned future coal mining or related operations within 200m.
- Shallow workings. Workings within 30m of the surface, the depth band where ground movement risk is highest and where lenders react most sharply.
- Mine entries. Shafts, adits, drifts and air vents within 20m of the property boundary. South Yorkshire has thousands of unrecorded entries from the 19th century alongside the modern mapped ones.
- Coal mining geology. Geological features that influence ground movement, fault zones, fissures and outcrop lines.
- Subsidence damage. Any claim for damage notified to the Authority under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991, whether the claim was accepted, refused or remains open.
- Mine gas. Recorded mine gas emission events at or near the property.
- Surface mining. Past, present and proposed opencast workings within 200m, with the highest weighting given to operations in the last 50 years.
- Withdrawal of support. Whether the rights to withdraw vertical support have ever been exercised at the property.
- Coal mining hazard. A summary of any other hazards the Mining Remediation Authority considers material: fly ash, spoil heaps, contaminated water and similar.
What it costs in 2026
The current price list for the Mining Remediation Authority's residential reports (published on its gov.uk page) is:
- CON29M Residential, £35.10 (the only mortgage-lender-accepted residential report).
- Coal Mining Brine Subsidence Report (Cheshire only), extra charge, irrelevant in South Yorkshire.
- Ground Hazards Report, bundled extra, £30-£45 depending on the bundle.
On a typical South Yorkshire completion statement, the CON29M appears as £40-£55 once the conveyancer's admin charge and VAT on that admin element are added. The search is non-refundable once ordered, which is why most solicitors only instruct it after the contract pack is agreed.
How long it takes
The Mining Remediation Authority publishes a 5 working day service standard. In practice the report is generated from a digital dataset and most are returned within 24 to 48 hours of being ordered through the online portal. There is no premium-rate fast-track product, the standard fee includes the 5-day target.
This makes the CON29M one of the quicker searches in a conveyancing pack. The slow item is almost always the local authority search (CON29 + LLC1) which in 2026 still takes 10 to 25 working days across South Yorkshire local authorities. So waiting for the CON29M itself is rarely the bottleneck, what holds up a sale is what the search says.
South Yorkshire and the Development High Risk Areas
The whole of the former Yorkshire coalfield falls within the Mining Remediation Authority's reporting area. But the Development High Risk Area (DHRA) designation, the trigger for the more detailed answers on a CON29M, covers a much larger proportion of South Yorkshire than most homeowners realise. Based on the Authority's published interactive map viewer:
| Local authority | Approx % of land in DHRA | Lender risk profile |
|---|---|---|
| Barnsley | ~80% | High, shallow workings widespread |
| Rotherham | ~75% | High, multiple recorded mine entries |
| Doncaster | ~60% | Medium-high, deeper seams but extensive history |
| Sheffield | ~25-30% | Medium, concentrated in east and north of city |
| Chesterfield | ~70% | High: adjoins North Derbyshire coalfield |
For practical purposes, if you are selling in Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster or the eastern half of Sheffield (S2, S4, S5, S9, S12, S13, S20, S35, S36), assume the CON29M will return material entries and plan accordingly.
Why mortgage lenders pull out
Mortgage lenders don't make decisions on the CON29M itself. They use it as one of several risk inputs assessed by their valuation surveyor or by a panel automated valuation model (AVM) provider. Hometrack and e.surv being the dominant players in 2026. What triggers a refusal, downvaluation or mortgage retention is:
- Recorded shallow workings beneath the dwelling footprint. Workings less than 30m below the surface are the highest-risk band. Many high-street lenders will decline outright on terraces in Barnsley or Mexborough where multiple seams have been worked at 8m-20m depth.
- Mine entries within 20m of the boundary. A shaft or air vent close to a property is treated as a category-A risk because of localised collapse potential.
- Subsidence claim history. A previous claim, even a settled one, flags the property as having had documented movement. Some lenders will lend with a higher rate; others will refuse.
- "Mining hazard" returned on question 11. Anything in the catch-all hazard answer (mine gas, fly ash, spoil heaps) triggers manual underwriting and often a refusal.
The result is that the conveyancer receives the CON29M, sends it to the buyer's solicitor, the buyer's solicitor sends it to the lender, and 48 hours later the mortgage offer is withdrawn. This is the single most common reason chains collapse in former South Yorkshire pit villages.
"We see the same pattern every month: sale agreed, search ordered, search returns shallow workings, lender pulls funding, chain collapses. The seller is back to square one through no fault of their own."
The cash buyer route
A genuine cash buyer isn't making the purchase with borrowed money, so a mortgage lender's view of the CON29M is irrelevant. The cash buyer's solicitor still orders the search, for due diligence and because Law Society conveyancing protocol requires it, but the result becomes a pricing input rather than a deal-breaker.
This is why properties that have been stuck on the open market for months due to mining-related survey issues often complete in 7 to 28 days when sold to a cash buyer like South Yorkshire Property Buyers. The trade-off is the same as on any cash sale, you accept less than a full open market price in return for speed and certainty. We won't put a percentage on that before we have spoken to you, because what a coalfield property is worth to us depends on what the search actually says, the condition of the house and what you tell us about it. The figure we give you is our best offer at that point, based on the information provided. We don't open low and work up to get a deal over the line. It only moves if conveyancing turns up something material, such as a title defect or a structural problem, or the property turns out to be different from how it was described. That trade-off needs to be weighed against the alternative of holding the property indefinitely while every buyer with a mortgage application drops out at the same stage. We are a small local team, we buy with our own funds and we answer the phone ourselves, so a coalfield terrace with recorded shallow workings doesn't have to pass a lender's panel surveyor.
Be honest with yourself about which route you need. If your CON29M comes back clean, or the flag is minor enough that a broker can place a mortgage with a lender that accepts coalfield stock, the open market will pay you more than we will and you should take it. Our route earns its keep when the same search keeps killing the same sale.
Auction is the other route sellers get pushed towards when a mining flag frightens lenders off, and those numbers aren't what they look like either. Under the modern method of auction the buyer pays a non-refundable reservation fee on top of the hammer price, commonly 4.2 to 5% of the price plus VAT. The industry calls it a fee paid by the buyer, not the seller, but a bidder works to a total budget, so that fee comes out of what they can afford to bid and the hammer price drops to make room for it. Your own fees then come off that suppressed figure. Compare what lands in your account, not the headline number: with us, the figure we agree is the figure that reaches your account on completion, with nothing deducted for fees.
Misconceptions about the new name
Some homeowners and even some estate agents still talk about "Coal Authority searches" and worry that the renaming on 22 May 2024 has changed the rules. It hasn't. The legal name and rebrand changed, but:
- The CON29M product is unchanged in scope and price.
- Old reports issued under the Coal Authority name remain fully valid, solicitors and lenders accept them.
- Existing subsidence claims under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 transfer to the Mining Remediation Authority without any action by the householder.
- The headquarters, contact phone number and online ordering portal are unchanged.
- The Authority's statutory powers and duties under the Coal Industry Act 1994 transfer in full.
The rationale for the rename, set out in the official announcement, was that the Authority's remit now extends well beyond coal: into metal mine water treatment, tin, lead, gold and historic chemical works. Calling it the "Coal Authority" had become misleading.
Practical seller checklist
- Order your own CON29M before you list. £35.10 is cheap insurance. You find out what a buyer's lender will see and avoid being blindsided four months in.
- Disclose honestly on the TA6. The 2024 edition of the Property Information Form (TA6) requires sellers to disclose known issues, see our piece on TA6 disclosure after Patarkatsishvili v Woodward Fisher [2025] for why this matters legally.
- Ask your agent if they have a "subject to mining survey" list. A good agent will know which buyers' lenders are more accommodating on coalfield stock.
- Get a second opinion if you are downvalued. AVMs are blunt instruments. A drive-by RICS valuation sometimes reverses an automated downvaluation.
- Know your fallback. If the conventional chain keeps collapsing, a cash buyer is the safety net, see our guide to cash buyer vs auction.
Coal Authority mining search FAQs
The CON29M is the official residential mining search produced by the Mining Remediation Authority (formerly the Coal Authority, renamed on 22 May 2024). It is the only Law Society-endorsed coal mining report and is required by mortgage lenders for any property in a coal mining reporting area. It reveals past, present and proposed underground and surface workings, mine entries, subsidence claims, mine gas issues, and whether the property sits in a Development High Risk Area.
The CON29M Residential search costs £35.10 in 2026, ordered directly from the Mining Remediation Authority's online portal. Conveyancers usually bundle it with other searches and add a small admin fee, so on a typical completion statement it appears as £40-£55.
The Mining Remediation Authority's official service standard for the residential CON29M is 5 working days. Most reports are returned within 1-2 working days because they are generated from the digital coal reporting dataset. There is no rapid-turnaround surcharge, the standard fee covers the 5-day turnaround.
Yes. The Coal Authority was renamed the Mining Remediation Authority on 22 May 2024 to reflect its broader remit including metal mine water treatment and tin, lead and gold mining legacy. The organisation, statutory powers, headquarters at 200 Lichfield Lane, Mansfield NG18 4RG and reporting services are unchanged. The CON29M product name has been retained.
A Development High Risk Area is land where the Mining Remediation Authority has identified recorded mining features: shallow workings, mine entries, fissures or fault zones, that could affect ground stability. Around 80% of Barnsley, 75% of Rotherham, 60% of Doncaster and 25-30% of Sheffield sits within a Development High Risk Area, which is why the CON29M is essential reading for any South Yorkshire property purchase.
Recorded shallow workings (typically less than 30 metres below the surface) carry a higher risk of subsidence and ground movement. Most high-street lenders use Hometrack, e.surv or in-house surveyor panels who downvalue or decline properties where the CON29M flags shallow workings beneath the footprint, mine entries within 20 metres, or active subsidence claims. The result is that even fairly priced sales fall through when a buyer's mortgage offer is withdrawn after the search returns.
A genuine cash buyer isn't bound by lender criteria, so a flagged CON29M isn't in itself a deal-breaker. Professional cash buyers still order the search to understand the risk profile of the asset before completion, but they price for it rather than refuse. This is why mining-affected properties that drag on the open market often sell quickly to cash buyers.
The CON29M will record any claim for subsidence damage made under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 that has been notified to the Mining Remediation Authority, whether settled, refused or ongoing. It doesn't record damage that has occurred but has never been reported. A seller's TA6 Property Information Form (2024 edition) requires honest disclosure of known defects regardless of what the official search shows.
Indemnity insurance can cover a buyer's lender for losses arising from undisclosed historic workings, and is sometimes accepted where the CON29M flags low-level risk. It doesn't cover a property that suffers actual subsidence damage post-completion: that falls to buildings insurance or, where the cause is coal mining, the statutory subsidence remediation scheme run by the Mining Remediation Authority. Indemnity isn't a substitute for due diligence.
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