The market for mining reports is changing. According to the latest annual report from the Mining Remediation Authority, the overall market grew by 5% during 2025/26. Yet, despite delivering over 106,900 mining reports, the Authority lost market share, with its income from licensing data to external specialists instead increasing.
What this tells us is that more conveyancers are choosing independently produced mining reports rather than automatically defaulting to the statutory provider. Indeed, the Authority itself describes this as the result of its policy to make its data more widely available and open the market from what was previously a “near monopoly” position.
This wider choice is good for conveyancers and their clients, however it also makes it important to understand what differentiates one report from another.
The value lies in specialist interpretation
The opening up of the mining-report market has given conveyancers access to reports that offer more than a straightforward presentation of the underlying records.
Specialists such as PinPoint use data licensed from the Mining Remediation Authority, while adding our own expertise, analysis and professional opinion. The result is a report that not only identifies relevant mining features but explains what they may mean for the individual property and advises on any appropriate next steps.
This is an important distinction. The Mining Remediation Authority is the custodian of the national coal-mining records, however as approved providers we can produce CON29M reports and equivalent products for the conveyancing market, but with added interpretation that conveyancers can rely on.
The real measure of a report is therefore not whether it carries the word “Official”, but what it adds to the underlying data: the quality of its interpretation, the clarity of its conclusions and the practical support it provides to the conveyancer.
Data is only the starting point
Mining records can be complex – they may include information on historic workings, mine entries, seams, outcrops, geological features, as well as areas of possible unrecorded mining and records created at different times (all to varying standards of accuracy).
The presence of a feature does not always tell a conveyancer what it means for the property or indeed what should happen next. Equally, a clear headline result is only valuable if it has been reached through a dependable assessment of all the relevant information.
This is where specialist interpretation matters. A good mining report should do more than reproduce data or simply provide a series of automated answers. It should help the conveyancer understand whether the information presents a material concern, explain the reasoning behind the conclusion and also identify any further action that may be appropriate. That’s where the value lies.
That may include advising whether additional enquiries or even specialist investigation should be considered. It may also mean putting a historic record into context so that it does not create unnecessary alarm or delay.
Expertise that goes beyond the data
At PinPoint, our Coal reports are informed by mining expertise built underground, on the coalface and at senior levels within the industry.
Our director, Phil Huddleston MRICS, began his career underground and went on to work as a mining surveyor for British Coal at Bank Hall and Hapton Valley.
His extensive underground experience also spans Grime Bridge, Hilltop, Thieveley, Ayle and Tan Llan collieries, as well as Llechwedd and Maenofferen slate mines. He later progressed into senior roles at the Coal Authority.
Few people working in property risk today can offer that breadth of first-hand mining knowledge. Phil has worked in many of the mining areas on which PinPoint now reports. He therefore understands not only what the data says, but the mines behind the data: how they were laid out, how they were worked, how activity was recorded and what their legacy may mean for properties today.
That rare depth of knowledge informs the professional opinion provided within every PinPoint Coal report.
Rather than leaving conveyancers to interpret mining data alone, we provide clear conclusions and practical guidance grounded in a genuine understanding of the industry. Where a potential issue is identified, we explain why it matters and what further action may be appropriate. Where the evidence does not indicate a material concern, we say so clearly.
Conveyancers therefore receive more than access to data. They gain dependable property risk intelligence shaped by first-hand mining knowledge, along with direct access to specialists who can explain the findings and help them determine what – if anything – needs to happen next.
Ultimately, source data is essential but it is the quality of the interpretation that turns that data into useful intelligence. For conveyancers, that is where the real value of a mining report lies.
https://www.pinpointinformation.co.uk/products/coal/
