Underpinning house questions

croboy

Hi,

We are purchasing a house that the vendor has disclosed was underpinned in 1993. Unfortunately he has no paperwork/guarantees as its his deceased parents house but he remembers it being done (as do neigbours!) as they had to move to a hotel. We have had a basic survey done that says the house has moved in the past but is stable now and a builder has confirmed that the house is 100% stable with no cracks/movement.

The mortgage is fine and approved but we are worried about resale value and insurance costs. Also the local council have no record of the underpinning so it never went through building control.

My questions are:

1. How much discount off agreed price would you seek in light of this?
2. If there is no records with council and house shows no signs of movement would a full structural survey tell us why it was underpinned/has it been done properly?
3. Would we need to disclose underpinning in future and can you 'tell' a house has been underpinned if you are a surveyor? (our basic survey didnt show it up!)

Thanks

robv_3

croboy wrote: »

My questions are:

1. How much discount off agreed price would you seek in light of this?

I would expect it to be the cheapest house in the road comparing like for like.

2. If there is no records with council and house shows no signs of movement would a full structural survey tell us why it was underpinned/has it been done properly?

Expect there are still signs that it had movement in the past. Unless it needs doing again it is unlikely to be any signs the work has been done. No way to confirm if the work has been done correctly.

You should still have gaureenties and if you don't this is where indemnity insurance will be required.

3. Would we need to disclose underpinning in future and can you 'tell' a house has been underpinned if you are a surveyor? (our basic survey didn't show it up!)

Yes if you are asked. All insurance companies will and most will not insure houses that have been underpinned or at least not cover subsidence. You may need to use a specialist insurance company which is expensive.

There was a stage when basic surveys where carried out while sitting in the car so unlikely to show any issues

ormus

i would walk away from it unless there was a huge discount.
the problem is getting insurance and any future resale.

and there are thousands of more houses to choose from.

Doozergirl

1. Just as much as you can get There's no rule that says how much it should be.
2. A full survey will help but a structural engineer is your best bet of getting as much detail as possible. 17 years having passed would be a good indication of whether it had been carried out properly! A local structural engineer will know the soil types etc and what might have caused it.
3. You do not have to disclose it unless you are asked. There is no standard question in a conveyancing pack that asks about underpinning. Solicitors sometimes have additional enquiry forms which they have put together. You can't tell that a house has been underpinned by looking at it, you'd have to dig - even a structural engineer would need to dig. You might be able to guage that it had moved, but all houses do that over time so unless the house is really wonky or is showing signs of current movement they may not even think to investigate it.

As for inusrance - the existing insurers should continue to insure the property so unless the vendor has allowed the insurance to lapse,you should be able to take it over. You don't have so much opportunity to shop around but you will have cover.

ormus

you have to balance the facts with the moneys paid out.
my view is that its too much of a probelm when there are lots of other houses.

for me, it would have to be very special or very cheap. or both.