Subsidence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neil0

Hi
Found a house I would like to buy
3 bed detached with PP for two story extension they want about 20k more than houses without space to extent and PP.

Problem:
just found out it had subsidence work in 1998 cost about 12k loads of paperwork and ten year guarantee but runs out 2008??

Will that bring problems when I sell or is there a way to get a 25 year guarantee? + will I get house insurance????

Cheers neil

theGrinch

have you had the property fully surveyed and if so what were the thoughts of the surveyor?

dougk_2

You should be paying less rather than more than the surrounding houses if it has a history of subsidence (unless of course they all have suffered). The PP maybe a bit of a red herring and certainly unless its a "special case" I wouldn't be paying extra for that - if the extention was there maybe!

chardonnay_2

surprising how many new houses are springing up around our area on land that had previously been condemmed for subsidence. sorry can't offer any help to your situation, but i know that the builders are able to do something to the ground to enable them to rebuild

margaret_3

Hi Neil,
We bought a beautiful bungalow which had previously suffered subsidence but it had a 30 year transferable guarantee with more than 20 years to go so we thought that was safe to buy.New neighbours told us that quite a few prospective buyers had withdrawn
and the price had been reduced. When we came to sell it three years later we had great difficulty as people who were really enthusiastic about it suddenly withdrew when advised about previous subsidence. I would never buy such a place again.
Be careful, Neil
Margaret

Poppy9

Is it difficult and more expensive to get insurance on houses that have suffered subsidence?

margaret_3

Poppy9 wrote:

Is it difficult and more expensive to get insurance on houses that have suffered subsidence?

No! If you have a guarantee it makes no difference as long as you phone around. There are a few insurance companies which do load your premiums, but many don't.

Elljay_2

If you realy like the house enquire about the insurance as soon as possible, as many lenders will not touch a house that has had, been treated for subsidence. It is common to stay with the existing householders insurers. They may let you take over the insurance policy. As Margaret warned, do bear in mind selling the property on. Most people are put off, just for the hassle factor. Very, very few insurers will insure a property that has had subsidence and all will insist on a full structural survey.
Be careful, but if you are in love with the property and want to stay there for a long time, there are ways around it but the more research you do at this early stage the better. Good Luck