Moderate to high risk of subsidence

adamta

Hi, I am in the process of buying my first house. I have received back a very brief survey which says everything looks fine. A Land search by the solicitors shows that the land is at "Moderate to high risk of subsidence".

Can anyone advise me of what the implications of this are?

I understand that
1- Insurance will be more expensive
2- When I come to sell the house that it might be harder to sell?
3- I am at higher risk of having subsidence even though the house is around 20 years old.

The survey that was done seems to be very very basic, and not like the one my parents had back when they bought their house. I'm thinking it might be worth doing a full structural survey if I was going to proceed.

Any advise would be gratefully received.

gordonbennet

The key thing will be whether or not there has actually already been subsidence in that house specifically. If there has, this will affect your ability to get insurance. Or at least very high excess on future subsidence claims.

It may well be that the property is somewhere where other properties have suffered from subsidence. Most of London falls into that category as it's largely built on soil with high clay content. There is already an increase in premiums for areas such as this.

Maybe speak to neighbouring house owners to see if they have suffered with it? At least speak to your surveyor to ask if there was anything specific to that property or if it was a general comment about all houses in that area.

Richard_Webster

A Land search by the solicitors shows that the land is at "Moderate to high risk of subsidence".

What kind of search was this? If an environmental search it would only give information based upon the geological soil type in the area and I don't think they consult insurance companies to see how many claims etc they have had in the area so, yes you need to ask more, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there is a problem at all.

These searches can be very confusing - I've just been on the Homecheck website where you can get a free basic environmental search for a postcode where it just gives High/medium/Low ratings for various risks and put in the postcode for the worst road in Southampton where the Council want an expensive geo-technical survey before they will give Building Regulation consent for you to build anything, so bad is the subsidence - and it comes up as "Medium".

adamta

Hi, Thanks for the reply's

No actual subsidence has occurred.

It was a environmental search that came back with "Moderate to high risk of subsidence".

All I have been told is that when I get a quotation for buildings insurance, it will be largely governed by the post code of the Property, and to ensure that any excess for subsidence is NO GREATER THAN £1,000, otherwise it will not be acceptable for my mortgage lender.

I'm actually less worried about subsidence or building insurance and more worried the implications of purchasing a property with moderate to high risk, Is this going to be a black mark against the house which might put people off buying it?

Doozergirl

As said before, most of London is clay soil which is a subsidence risk. How many houses there? It doesn't stop people buying! Entire towns and cities are built on soil which carries a higher risk of subsidence. Hardly the most glamorous example, but Redditch in Worcestershire is even named after the red clay it sits on, it's still home to 30,000 odd people and they still build new houses there.

The result of an environmental search is different to the result of a structural survey showing that a house has moved. There is no black mark on your house, nor I suspect will you find it hard to find insurance if there is no evidence of movement in the house.

Modern foundations are designed and built according to the conditions surrounding each property. I wouldn't let the enviro result stop me buying an older house with little in the way of foundations if there were no evidence of movement. It certainly wouldn't stop me buying a modern house with substantial foundations.

Davesnave

gordonbennet wrote: »

Maybe speak to neighbouring house owners to see if they have suffered with it? .

Theoretically good advice.....but...

When we were renting, our house had considerable subsidence cracks. I heard from friends that some others on the estate had actually had whole walls re-built.

However, when I casually mentioned the subject whilst chatting to neighbours, there was an awkward silence. Then one said, rather brusquely, "Er, we don't talk about that. House values etc." And that was the end of that line of conversation! :o

Staying quiet seems to work. That estate is still highly-priced and sought-after.

Richard_Webster

When I had an extension built 1 inch away from next door's house (on a hill, base level slightly lower than theirs) my builders literally had to underpin next door's foundations. Nothing about subsidence at all but it literally was underpinning. When the neighbours came to sell they asked us not to mention to the buyers that the house has been "underpinned" because it might scare the buyers off!

Such is the fear of the word "subsidence" and related words!

Gwhiz

I'm completing on a new house in 2 weeks that is supposedly in a moderate subsistence area according to environmental searches.

No one, anywhere in the area that we know of, has ever suffered subsistence so I was happy to have a £5K excess for subsistence on my insurance.

G_M

adamta wrote: »

The survey that was done seems to be very very basic, and not like the one my parents had back when they bought their house. I'm thinking it might be worth doing a full structural survey if I was going to proceed.

What kind of survey did your parents decide to pay for?
What kind of survey did you decide to pay for?

Richard_Webster

I'm completing on a new house in 2 weeks that is supposedly in a moderate subsistence area according to environmental searches.

No one, anywhere in the area that we know of, has ever suffered subsistence so I was happy to have a £5K excess for subsistence on my insurance.

Your mortgage lender would not be happy with a £5K excess for subsidence.

Gwhiz

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Your mortgage lender would not be happy with a £5K excess for subsidence.

Cash purchase.