Has anyone ever heard of the NHBC buying back a property with heave?

New_Buyer_4

We have seen an 11 year old house that is in a good location but has a history of heave due to a tree root that was removed. A brief history of the property is as follows:

4 bedroom detached with a double garage build in 1996. Cracks in floor & walls discovered by occupiers 2002, bought back by NHBC in May 2003, probably due to the extent of internal damage. The property has been empty since then and has had rectification work carried out (waiting to confirm nature of repair but recommendation was for a piled raft foundation). The estate agent has let me see parts of the initial investigation report from the NHBC and they are offering it for sale with a 12 year ASUC Specialist guarantee. The whole of the interior has been patched up and repainted but I’m concerned as to the quality of the finish (looks like it has been done to a cost)

My main questions are:

1. Is it normal for the NHBC to buy back a property? Is this an extreme or an indication of the extent of the problems?
2. What do I need to check before I proceed any further (will be getting a full survey and I’m told all the guarantees are transferable).

silvercar

Clearly the NHBC do buy back sometimes. The reason its rare is probably that people want to keep their house with the problem fixed and aren't interested in a buy back.

You need to check that the problem has been sorted ie either whatever was causing the heave has been rectified or that the new foundations are doing their job. You also need to check that your lender will be happy to lend on such a property, even with guarantees.

Unless you are getting a hefty discount I would be inclined to walk away. Heave as a problem is worse then subsidence!. With subsidence you solve the problem by securing the house on deeper, stronger foundations. If the problem was caused by trees etc you deal with them, if it was by insufficent foundations you make them stronger. Heave is a completely different ball game. What is causing the movement? Has it been dealt with or is that not possible? Here the raft foundations are holding the house afloat on piles; it should make the house safe but I don't know if it stops further movement.

New_Buyer_4

Silvercar, thanks for the post. The discount is about 15-20 % off simialr properties, however will check up on the report in more detail to find out if it is worth pursuing.

Debt_Free_Chick

New_Buyer wrote:

Silvercar, thanks for the post. The discount is about 15-20 % off simialr properties, however will check up on the report in more detail to find out if it is worth pursuing.

With that saving, I would be inclined to appoint my own specialist surveyor to look at the property as it stands and to review any reports that the NHBC will allow you to see.

In other words .... consider paying for a "second opinion" from a professional expert of your choice.

silvercar

There are two important points to check, once you are satisfied the heave has been remedied, firstly that the mortgage company will lend and secondly that you can get building insurance at a reasonable rate.

Two issues to separate in your mind. Are you happy that the problem is solved and whether you will have problems selling the property because of a perceived problem by others.

New_Buyer_4

I would be getting a full survey and then pay the fees for a mortgage application, I have already spoken to a broker and he has a Mortgage company who are willing to lend provided the gurantees are good, the current insurer is willing to transfer the insurance ( i think they have to do that anyway)

Here 's the crunch, it's up for £395K and the minimum they are willing to accept is late £370's (£378K I guess). A prvious offer of £368 was rejected. I does have a lot of space, this is the only reason we are considering it, but I'm not sure there is enough margin in it . My only concern is whether it would sell on due to the history.

The other issue is as I'm not in a chain and have a hefy deposit available would I be better off trying to get a discount on a non-probelm property, and how much of a discount can being a cash buyer give you?

silvercar

If you are not absolutely in love with the property, walk away.

You could end up spending a lot on surveys and then feel the issue is no resolved sufficiently to purchase.

The big unknown is how difficult will it be to sell the property in the future, for that risk you should expect a discount of 10% IMHO.

New_Buyer_4

Silvercar, I do like it, but the wife is in love with it and it has a lot of potenial of being a great family home, for same the amount of space in the same location we would end up paying another £30-40K. Thanks for the feedback on the risk to sell on, that is probaly more of a concern, We'd expect to be there for 10 years at least but if we need to sell due to job move etc I wouldn't want to take too much of a hit on the sale price.

New_Buyer_4

Update - someone just offered £385K, obviously loved the house more than we did and is more comfortable about the resale price.