Subsidence - what would you do?

[Anonymous]

We recently had a victorian property surveyed - it showed that the rear wall of a later addition is bowing and cracked. The local council are the freeholders (upper two floors remain as council flat) and we have been informed that if the bowing is due to subsidence the repairs will be covered by building insurance. The insurers need to monitor the building for six months to ensure no further subsidence.

I am worried that if we go ahead with the purchase then the monitoring shows further subsidence, it could be years before we can do work to that part of the property.

Anyone have similar experiences? Any advice appreciated...

 

[Anonymous]

you are worried, I don't see the logic then in getting involved in something which could turn out to be a bundle of trouble.

 

[Anonymous]

If you take on an insurance policy it would be a pre-existing condition and not covered by your insurer. You would also need specialist insurance if your building is subsiding.

To get it done under insurance the existing owner would need to claim.

It may need more than 6 months monitoring.

The key q in my mind would be: how bad is it? how long before work must be done, if at all?

Clearly youre getting yourtself into trouble and expense regardless of the outcome. How much off the price, what would it cost to fix, how much do you want the hassle and aggro etc

NT

 

[Anonymous]

You say that the local council is the freeholder (and lets out the rest of the building), so could it be the case that it has some responsibility for the structure?

 

[Anonymous]

No experience of this (touch wood) but I understand that you'll have great difficulty finding an insurer who would offer building cover for a building with a history of subsidence, even if it has been properly underpinned. Owners of affected buildings have found that they're stuck with the insurer who paid for the repairs and they increase the premiums. You should check whether you could find cover, assuming it is repaired before purchase.

I'd be inclined to leave it.

 

[Anonymous]

Just adding my voice to what's been said already - I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

You'd have to get the current owner's insurers to pay for dealing with the subsidence before you buy the place. You'll then be risking major problems in getting the house insured without a thumping big premium and a subsidence clause that requires you to pay a very large excess. You'll also be obliged to declare the subsidence if/when in the future you want to sell the property, and that is likely to have a negative effect on its value.

Find yourself a nice, solid property somewhere else!

 

[Anonymous]

[No message]

 

[Anonymous]

You obviously need to investigate this thoroughly but I have surveyed many properties that have had subsidence repairs and I have not come across a problem in getting insurance - provided of course that the repairs are carried out correctly and by a reputable company.

My advice would be to re-value the property to include the disrepair and allow for the fact that you may have to take care of repairs yourself. Then obviously allow for the disruption and hassle factor and a certain amount of profit to make it worthwhile. This will downgrade the value significantly but if the vendor wants out and you are prepared to take on a project you might be able to get yourself an attractive property at well below market value.

After all, it's only as rear addition. You could probably re-build the whole thing for £20k

 

[Anonymous]

Imho whether to walk all depends on the price. Re future sale, after a number of years buyers are generally not overly worried about historic subsidence, as long as it was fixed and has been stable for years. If of course it keeps moving, no-one would want it except at a heavy discount.

You pay below market price and takes yer chance. Or not.

NT