Help...subsidence on survey

cb94uk

Hi everyone

We've found a gorgeous house, almost there with the mortgage etc. We know the whole house history (buying from relatives) and we also know there have been some issues with settlement in the property. Our relatives have had the insurers around who sent an expert to look at it and determined it was settlement issues not subsidence and could be relatively easily fixed (we have a report stating this). We then got the survey carried out and at the time he said verbally to us that it was settlement etc and gave us advice on how to correct. However in the written survey it said:

'is the property affected by subsidence, settlement, heave or landslip? - yes'

Under essential repairs:


The concrete ground floor structure supports the internal partitions and some of the first floor and roof
structure. This has subsided. Prop the concrete floor with grout injection or other system such as Uretek.


Now the mortgage company have said they won't provide a mortgage until it's fixed so we're in a catch 22 - we don't want to spend the money fixing it if we don't definitely get the mortgage!

What's best to do here? Get some more surveys carried out to confirm it is just settlement?

Thanks

G_M

The mortgage lender will base their decision on the Valuation report provided by their surveyor. Getting further surveys done is unlikely to sway them.

You could try another mortgage lender, but given that you know there is settlement, the same thing is likely to happen again. The problem is the words 'settlement' and 'subsidence' are poorly defined, even more poorly understood, and used almost interchangably even by professionals.

Bear in mind that as well as the mortgage difficulties you are having, and the work that needs doing, you will always have insurance difficulties and problems when you come to sell.

Sorry to sound negative.....