A year of remastering: how Landmark raised the bar for environmental due diligence
On 19th November 2024, Landmark Information launched its remastered residential environmental search reports, a milestone that marked the start of a strategy to enhance how environmental risk information is delivered. In the months that followed, we broadened this work to include our commercial portfolio and completed the journey with the remastering of Argyll Environmental’s SiteSolutions range. Today, as we celebrate one year since that first launch, it’s worth reflecting on what this means for the property and legal sectors.
Why remastering mattered
Environmental risks have always been central to property transactions. From contaminated land and flood risk to coal mining and climate change, these factors can influence property value, insurability, and even the enjoyment of a home. Conveyancers and solicitors rely on environmental searches to protect their clients’ interests, but the complexity of these risks has grown. Climate change, infrastructure projects, and evolving regulations demand more than just data; they require clarity, foresight, and actionable insight.
Our goal was simple but significant: to set a new standard for environmental due diligence. That meant rethinking not just the content of our reports, but how they are designed, interpreted, and integrated into modern workflows.
Stage one: residential reports
The first phase focused on our residential portfolio. We introduced intuitive layouts, clearer risk interpretation, and integrated modules for emerging concerns like climate change. By embedding forward-looking climate analysis into products such as EnviroSearch and RiskView, we enabled conveyancers to advise clients not only on today’s risks but on how properties may be affected in decades to come.
This wasn’t just an upgrade; it marked a change in approach. Environmental due diligence is now about resilience and preparing for the future, not simply meeting compliance requirements.
Stage two: commercial reports
The second phase focused on our commercial portfolio, where reports were remastered to deliver greater clarity and actionable insight. Among these, Sitecheck Assess and Sitecheck Combined underwent the most significant upgrades, introducing new risk categories and refining existing assessments. These enhancements include:
- Enhanced flood analysis, broken down by river, coastal, surface water, and groundwater perils.
- Ground stability assessments, covering natural and mining-related hazards.
- Energy & Infrastructure data as standard, removing the need for ancillary reports.
- Climate change modules, offering long-term risk insights for complex transactions.
We also introduced a redefined approach to coal mining risk, the “coal revolution”, combining speed, accuracy, and indemnity protection to reduce delays and uncertainty.
Stage three: Argyll Environmental SiteSolutions reports
The final phase of our remastering journey focused on Argyll Environmental’s SiteSolutions range. Developed in collaboration with leading law firms, these reports now set the benchmark for clarity and consultancy-led insight. Each report is written by an expert environmental consultant, turning complex datasets into plain-language commentary and bespoke recommendations.
A key enhancement was the introduction of SiteSolutions Combined + Climate Change, which includes Landmark’s market-leading climate change module. This forward-looking analysis helps clients understand potential long-term physical risks such as flooding and heat stress, as well as transitional risks like energy efficiency.
Providing SiteSolutions Combined reports both with and without a climate change assessment gives lawyers and their clients the flexibility to decide whether, and when, this information should form part of the due diligence process. This approach aligns with the updated guidance recently published in the Law Society’s Property Climate Practice Note, ensuring compliance and best practice.
The impact
The launch of our remastered reports wasn’t just about design changes or minor refinements. It was about giving property professionals the tools to assess environmental risk with greater clarity and confidence. Across residential, commercial, and Argyll consultancy-led reports, these enhancements have reduced false positives, streamlined decision-making, and introduced future-focused modules such as climate change analysis. We’ve also improved transparency by clearly showing the level of assessment for each risk type, giving conveyancers a straightforward view of how risks are evaluated.
Together, these improvements help conveyancers deliver more informed advice and achieve better outcomes for their clients.
Looking ahead
The property sector will continue to face new challenges, from high level forces like digitisation, and detailed challenges such as climate adaptation. Our commitment is to keep innovating, ensuring that every report we deliver remains the gold standard for clarity, accuracy, and actionable insight. The foundation has been set for Landmark Information to evolve, iterate and continue to lead the market from here.
Want to know more about what’s changed?
Join us as we look back on a year of innovation: watch the video on YouTube here.
