Parents not told about subsidence when they brought.

markbarton

Shouldn't there be a Building Control certificate for any structural work done in the 80's? Or didn't they bother then.

stokesley

markbarton wrote: »

Yes there was a question on the sellers questionnaire about underpinning etc which they stated No so there is a fraudulent answer.

There is most certainly not necessarily a fraudulent reply, and I would be a little wary of using such a term.

I speak as someone who is being sued by my purchaser for something of which I had no knowledge...

ILW

markbarton wrote: »

Hi - thanks for the replies.

It was a homebuyers survey so wouldn't have picked that up.

Yes there was a question on the sellers questionnaire about underpinning etc which they stated No so there is a fraudulent answer. Though as I say this might not be there fault. Its going to get messy if you have to prove that they were aware of the underpinning.

Really it comes down to the fact that a house that has suffered subsidence is deemed to have a lower market value - particularly around the issue of insurance and this should have been declared, they might not have brought the property if they had known. I still feel the blame lies around the building control search but until we find out if there is a record we won't know.

The question would usually say "to your knowledge" so not necessarily fraudulent.

Orpheo

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

PasturesNew/Orpheo

How would the surveyor have identified this? Slipped on his x-ray specs and looked through a couple of metres of soil?

No, x-ray specs don't exist, silly. The chartered surveyor would apply his or her skills and training to identify subsidence by looking for evidence.

I am not a surveyor, but such evidence could be:

cracks in interior plaster
cracks in brickwork
doors/windows that stick in the frame
doors that swing open without human application of force
misshapen door frames
eneven floors
eneven levels of floors at the threshold of rooms
gaps where walls should join
uneven brickwork

Orpheo

markbarton wrote: »

It was a homebuyers survey so wouldn't have picked that up.

It should have. (If there were visible problems.)

markbarton

Thanks for everyones replies - thats a good point about to your knowledge and to be honest my gut says they knew nothing about it so really it comes down to the paper trail - if there is one.

mrs_deadline

On another tack, is there no way to challenge the cancellation of the insurance on the basis that the underpinning has worked fine and no sign of movement over the last 20 years?

JQ.

Orpheo wrote: »

No, x-ray specs don't exist, silly. The chartered surveyor would apply his or her skills and training to identify subsidence by looking for evidence.

I am not a surveyor, but such evidence could be:

cracks in interior plaster
cracks in brickwork
doors/windows that stick in the frame
doors that swing open without human application of force
misshapen door frames
eneven floors
eneven levels of floors at the threshold of rooms
gaps where walls should join
uneven brickwork

It was underpinned 25 years ago 6 years after the house was built, I would very much doubt there would be any remaining evidence of subsidence if the work had been carried out correctly.

OP - might be worth getting a friendly builder to have a look at the house and ask if he can see any evidence of past subsidence. If there is, then perhaps get a surveyor to do a proper report to see if the subsidence should have been picked up in the Homebuyers. However, the fact that other people have owned the house in the interim with no knowledge of the underpinning would suggest it's not been picked up in their Surveys either.

I would imagine that 25 years after a house has been underpinned there is likely to be very little evidence remaining. The initial insurance claim in 1986 would have remedied all the serious aspects of the movement and I would imagine after 25 years most other minor points would have been remedied. So it's unlikely to be picked up in a survey.

How much has the cost of the insurance gone up by?

Good luck getting it sorted.

ruggedtoast

When something is underpinned it should have planning permission applied for, which will appear in the Local Authority searches.

You can apply for these again and that will show you if the underpinning has been recorded or not.

If it hasn't I dont know what would happen. Really unusual, technically there is no record.

You can get insurance from a few places, Adrian Flux or Towergate but it will cost you more.

Unfortunately, unless its in an area where subsidence and underpinning is very common (many desirable parts of London are subsidence areas for example) it may substantially affect the value of the house.

I walked away from my last purchase when underpinning came up in the searches.