Horrible underpinning situation post searches. Advice?

myhouse_2

I'd walk away without a real discount. Avoid getting too emotionally attached to the house - signing up for 6 months rental is no big deal - it passes in a flash and even if you move out half way and have to pay 3 months unused rent, it's not much compared to a house purchase.
Frankly, the sellers did no one a favour by not being up-front about it and I'd be reluctant to trust them going forward. They're stuck with the problem - you are not (yet).

silvercar

If the adjoining property is further down the hill, underpinning that may have solved any problem with the house you are looking at. Without a full structural survey you won't know. With a full structural survey you will either know that work needs doing or that there is not a problem. Armed with a FSS that says there is no problem, getting insurance should not be so difficult.

TO be honest I can't see how you can buy a house, attached to something that was moving, without a full structural survey. It could be the best money you've ever spent.

Catblue

What has the mortgage company said about it?

When the survey was carried out, it was without the surveyor knowing about the underpinning next door. It certainly seems possible that this recently-discovered issue will have an effect on the valuation.

I'd be surprised if the mortgage company would not want to have the house revalued for their own purposes.

Can you call up the original surveyor and ask his advice now that the underpinning issue has come to light?

paddy's_mum

So you've got an EA who proposed that you lie to insurers which, if found out, could so easily leave you up a creek without a paddle in the event of a disaster such as flooding or a house fire, as well as a seller who is economical with the truth. Can you afford to risk every penny you own on the word of two people who have already proved they don't know the meaning of the words honesty or integrity?

DVardysShadow

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Mortgage approved we trundle on, our landlady is annoyed we cant sign another AST so gives us two months notice to expire at Christmas (nice). But hey, no chain eh.

...

Wife was in floods of tears. I'm stressed out, we'll need to ask for a price drop, suck it up and buy it, or look for a new rental soon and embark on yet another 6 month AST if we arent to be homeless with a toddler after Xmas.

To say I'm in two minds is an understatement. I fear the property would be hard to sell.

I've sunk best part of a grand into fees but am thinking walk away.

Am I being too cautious?

Landlady is being a thoroughly miserable cow here. Although perhaps she has been misled by the LA and does not understand that a periodic tenancy keeps all the AST terms in place?

It all adds to the stress, but I think you would be right to walk away from this. Don't throw the rest of your money after that grand.

ruggedtoast wrote: »

... I had no idea the house had this history and am actually pretty peeved they werent up front about it.

A really good reason to walk away. There are ways of selling such houses, but the agent and vendor are not going about it in a way which would allow me to consider it.

Eric1

silvercar wrote: »

If the adjoining property is further down the hill, underpinning that may have solved any problem with the house you are looking at. Without a full structural survey you won't know. With a full structural survey you will either know that work needs doing or that there is not a problem. Armed with a FSS that says there is no problem, getting insurance should not be so difficult.

TO be honest I can't see how you can buy a house, attached to something that was moving, without a full structural survey. It could be the best money you've ever spent.

A full structural survey may not be enough, it may again say that a specialist structural engineer's report is required. I'd bypass the survey and get the specialist report.

BTW, I was in a similar situation a few months ago, and walked away mainly because the sellers hadn't been upfront about some issues. Now I'm happy I did.

ruggedtoast

Thanks for all your replies, this is very helpful. Mainly they seem to confirm what we are thinking, that this isnt a good risk for us.

The house is at the absolute maximum of our budget and we really went £2,500 over what we thought it was worth. I feel pretty stunned that this has come up so late in the day.

Its in a desirable area. One thing we were thinking is that if the worst came to the worst with our incomes or mortgage rates we could take a haircut on the equity and offer it for £10k under market and it would sell like a proverbial hot cake. I understand houses with history can and do sell but this element of security is now completely missing.

I would like to give the sellers the benefit of the doubt. The owner bought it in the early 80s under right to buy, and has now retired abroad. His daughter is handling the sale and probably would have been a teenager when this all happened originally.

Unless they really don't shop around for insurance however, they must be aware that there is a reason why they havent been able to change insurance companies for 23 years. And they really came back within minutes with their policy number.

I have attempted to talk to the surveyor. I just got through to a call centre and they told me that the surveyor would have put everything he thought in the Homebuyers report and would have little else to add. He wouldnt have been aware of the underpinning next door, but would have said if he thought the movement was recent or progressive and as the issue was so long ago it was probably fine. Not much help really. Next time I wont bother with a Homebuyers arranged via the lender and just get my own full survey done.

I haven't spoken to the lender, the solicitor didn't mention it as an issue and indicated I could progress the purchase as, again, the problem was a long time ago and the survey was ok. I suppose thats what happens with no move no fee conveyancing though. They want you to move.

I have had conflicting opinions about the significance of the time. UIA said anything thats been fixed for over 10 years isnt considered too risky. Adrian Flux (who specialise in underpinned property insurance) said they wouldnt even give a quote without a full engineers report beforehand. Most of the rest of them told me to sling my hook.

We will sleep on it, but the negatives are weighing up.

Our LL isnt the most considerate. We even tried to get an assurance from her we could go onto rolling when we signed up initially. See what that was worth!

sunshinetours

I think as others on this and previous thread have said you shouldn't (and possibly can't from an insurance point of view) even consider proceeding without a full survey.

If the house is at the top of your budget in a falling market then there is no real need (long term that is, I appreciate you have a short term need) to buy a house that has known issues that could come back and bite you

Losing a £1000 now is nothing in the great scheme of things although it would be annoying (and may be worth approaching the vendors for contribution as they have disclosed material facts after you have incurred costs)

Personally I would walk away and keep looking. Go back to your landlord and swallow pride and see if you can get another 6mth lease agreed to give you time to checkl out the market and await new houses coming on. Then enjoy Christmas and be assured that something just as nice if not nicer nearly always comes along (been there!) and if prices continue to fall then also may save you money and easily recoup your lost fees

best of luck

charles_b_2

I agree with sunshinetours. I just had a structural survey come back on the house we are buying. The cost was £1300 and I would gladly pay it, even if it brings us bad news. There is always something and it looks like our house will need a new roof in the next 2-3 years

However, the house is Structurally sound, so the cost of a roof - although not insignificant - is something I'm prepared to accept for a house I want.

12 years ago, I had a dilemma. A property we liked we had a structural survey, which indicated subsidence had occurred. It was apparent that the Vendor and EA knew something - they weren't surprised, and wanted to see the content of the report - which we did NOT show them - it was ours and we'd paid for it!

We walked away - and found another house we preferred, which was also cheaper and better area and layout...

Moral of the story - don't get emotionally attached to any house that you are buying, as thing like this can really make it difficult to make rational decisions, and like buses - there will be another one along shortly that you may prefer.

Hope this helps

CloudCuckooLand

A £900 full survey saved me buying a house with issues that eventually sold two years later for £40k less...

Walk away. Watch the house sit on the market for a year, then go back and offer 20% off...