Help! 10 yrs into mortgage and new survey says it's structurally unsound

celtic.woman

Hi,

I am seriously hoping some one can advise me.

I bought a house in 2001 and had an intermediete homebuyers survey done with no issues identified.

I have since remortgaged a couple of times the most recently to remove my ex from the mortgage- i had to take a really poor deal and am currently paying 7.39% which is crippling me! so to cut a long story short i have applied for a more competitive mortgage now 'he' is off my credit rating and the surveyor involved has identified that my lovely house has a gable end of single brick structure and is a) structurally unsound, b) unmortgageable and c) (by association) unsaleable. I cannot afford 10K repairs, I cannot get an affordable motgage, and i cannot sell!

I have invested 20 years hard work in the property ladder and held my own- even without reliable partners- have fought really hard and worked many extra hours just to stay solvent, independent and on the ladder to now find out my home is worthless, dangerous etc. I am gutted, and sorry if i sound hysterical but i just don't know what to do

Can anyone advise?

Leg-end_2

I am sorry to hear of your current situation. Just my 2ps worth. Would the cost of a 10K loan to fix the problem help. Without stating the obvious but.... If the cost of loan + new mortgage payment is less than your existing mortgage payments then on paper it is a no brainer. Obviously I do not know your personal circumstances, but one way or another you need to get that problem fixed (sooner rather than later).

pfpf

i may be way off here but does home buildings insurance not cover this type of thing? what has caused the issue? susidence?

hope someone can offer real advice.

ccygirl

Don't Panic it may just be the lender you've chosen. Try a broker, some lenders have a very strict criteria and don't lend on certain properties- maybe the credit crunch has made it worse.

jhe

can you get a second opinion, or apply for a mortgage with a different bank with a different surveyor celtic.woman. we had 2 different surveys on our property, both came back with completely different advisories, 1 mentioned possible subsidence, we have had this checked and the survey was wrong. have you had a specialist check it out?

David_Aldred

Hi Celtic Woman,
A surveyors liability to act with reasonable care and skill is often limited to around 6 years but this period can be extended if you as a layperson were not aware that the surveyor had been negligent until you have only now discovered that they might have been.

Things for your legal advisors to look at would be consideration of possible negligence, breach of contract and breach of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. In considering whether there is a case to answer they will also have to consider that there may be a time period within which to commence action and this may be limited to six years for cases founded on negligence as a tort or simple contract.

However under the Limitation Act 1980 there may be grounds for extending or excluding such time periods under Section 14 where facts relevant to cause of action are not known at date of accrual, such that the earliest date on which the plaintiff or any person in whom the cause of action was vested before him first had both the knowledge required for bringing an action for damages in respect of the relevant damage and a right to bring such an action, or under Section 32 where there has been fraud, concealment or mistake by the defendant.

Hope this helps, kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

Eric_Pisch

Id also question how unsound the wall is

how old is the building, and is there any movement

If its been there 40 odd years with no movement its sound and its just the surveyor covering himself. If this is the case it it may be worth looking into getting a structural engineer to work out the load on the wall and if it its suitable to take it. Could be cheaper if they say its strong enough.

celtic.woman

Thank you all for your comments!

I am no further forward since I last came on here as had commisioned a damp and timber survey and price for all works as requested by B>S to then find out the report is inadequate due to further requirements that they should be PCA registered- so £50 quid out of pocket there too!

Leg end- thanks for your comment- I do not wish to enter into further lending for something which will not add value to the property and I was unaware of to begin with.

pfpf- the problem is due to the original structure of the building being inadequate- 3 sides of 9" brick and 4th side of 4.5" brick-bizarrely.
I don't believe buildings insurance will cover this.

ccygirl- I am using a broker already.

jhe-It seems to be that a second professional opinion is required perhaps a structural survey but this will cost hundreds of pounds I assume? Does anyone know?

David Aldred- this is really useful information- I am assuming my chances of a) affording to pursue this and b) succeeding in the case are slim.

Eric Pisch-the property has stood for 130 years and I accept some degree of damp but surely the original structure should have been assessed by other surveyors prior to now- including the one done when I purchased the property in 2001! As stated above perhaps this is where I need to get further specialist advice from a structural surveyor.

Thank you all for your input and advice. I am already on the bread line and this is the final straw after years of fighting to remain solvent. If anyone has any other advice it would be gladly received.

Thanks again!

ccygirl

Hi,

My cousin was selling a 3 bed terrace in Reading that only had a single brick wall at the back. Her mother had died and it was being sold to comply with the will. I know they had a sale fall through because they wouldn't reduce the price because of the wall. They did get another buyer and the sale went through.

I think some banks may have tightened up over this, but My aunt's house was typical of many terraces in Reading and presumably all over the country. What do your neighbours know about it.

Some lenders have different criteria and it may be a case of just trying a different one, or even broker if they can't advise you.

I had a sructural engineers report about 4 years ago on my property and I think it was in the region of £300.

Hope that helps.

happybroker

Speak to a few engineers locally, often they will report solely on the area of the property that is causing concern, the last one of these that I sorted for a client cost about £150 from memory and was to do with cracking to lintels in the front of a property of similar age.