Buying house - suspect subsidence

reggie

Just after some opinions/advice really. We have had a bid accepted on a property, got 10% off asking - so good so far. Went to have a wander up the road today, met some of the neighbours- all very nice. One is in the building trade and proceeded to let us know of the problems with a previous conservatory, then when a new conservatory was built, he wondered how deep the foundations were. Anyway he pointed out a crack and through the window you could see the floor is coming away from the actual house. No damage on the house itself just the brickwork of the conservatory and the pulling away. We don't know how to proceed - we had intended on getting a full survey done, but after our offer was accepted, we were told no more money off - possibly they know about this issue? We don't really want to fork out £800 for a survey if they will not budge on price should subsidence be found. We are going round with EA again this week, we think best plan is to point cracks out and get her to talk to vendors about any problems and should subsidence show up would there be further negotiation. If they say no, we would bow out as we can't afford the sort of money needed for repairs. Does this sound like a plan? Any better suggestions? Perhaps their house insurance? Conservatory company? Thanks in advance

robatwork

They aren't going to admit to subsidence, but a conservatory coming away from the house can just be a badly built conservatory.

You need a full survey.

However £800 sounds very steep - shop around a bit and perhaps get a structural engineer too. Seller "not budging" means nothing - if it's subsidence you will walk away or have to negotiate a substantial discount to allow for repairs.

arbrighton

If you suspect subsidence, get a survey. It's VERY expensive to fix, and disruptive as it can take months to sort out. If you manage to get your insurers to pay out on it (they will try to wiggle out of it), it will increase your premiums (up to 100% based on what our buyers said) and you will not be able to move between insurers. Then it makes resale difficult.
If they're not prepared to negotiate and you aren't prepared to survey if you can't ue it to negotiate, walk away

arbrighton

robatwork wrote: »

They aren't going to admit to subsidence, but a conservatory coming away from the house can just be a badly built conservatory.

You need a full survey.

However £800 sounds very steep - shop around a bit and perhaps get a structural engineer too. Seller "not budging" means nothing - if it's subsidence you will walk away or have to negotiate a substantial discount to allow for repairs.

We paid £825 for a full survey inc vat, and that was with a friend's staff discount scheme. Was an early victorian property though

reggie

robatwork wrote: »

They aren't going to admit to subsidence, but a conservatory coming away from the house can just be a badly built conservatory.

You need a full survey.

However £800 sounds very steep - shop around a bit and perhaps get a structural engineer too. Seller "not budging" means nothing - if it's subsidence you will walk away or have to negotiate a substantial discount to allow for repairs.

The previous conservatory had problems, leaking as coming away. The neighbour suspects they didn't sort the cause and just replaced it with new one. He did say that the downpipe by the conservatory used to just soak into ground by conservatory, but they laid pipe to lead water away - not into soak away though, he thinks into the mains! Something else to check.

motherofstudents

You can't take the word of some neighbour. If you still want the house then you really need a full building survey. Shop around, get a MRICS or walk away. It's not necessarily subsidence but you need to know for sure what the problem is.

greenhill

Am I the only one [STRIKE]being nosy[/STRIKE] wondering why the neighbour is so interested?

reggie

greenhill wrote: »

Am I the only one [STRIKE]being nosy[/STRIKE] wondering why the neighbour is so interested?

I think the vendor caused him a few issues, so he was happy to share!

greenhill

reggie wrote: »

I think the vendor caused him a few issues, so he was happy to share!

Maybe a reason to take anything this 'helpful' chap tells you with a pinch of salt?

Best of luck with your purchase though:)

reggie

Think he was being genuine and the cracks and gap seem to back up what he is saying. Will show to EA this week and get her to talk to vendors on reaction if subsidence found. If open, then full survey; if they say no price reduction regardless then we either go for survey hoping problem not so bad, or walk away - would hate to do latter as has taken ages to find house.
Thanks for all replies

kingstreet

It may be cheaper to invest in a structural engineer's report instead. It wouldn't be the first time a client had a full structural survey by an FRICS who then recommended a structural engineer's report.

http://www.findanengineer.com/

Choose the "Surveying: Domestic Property" dropdown and add the postcode of the preoperty.

It may be worth having a chat to the structural engineer to establish if your concerns can be best be met by an engineer or a surveyor.