House we like has been underpinned

northwest1965

God I am so annoyed. We have found our perfect home, it's empty, no chain. We've had the survey done. Vendor wouldn't stop marketing until we showed him a copy of the mortgage offer.
Today we get the 1st set of paperwork from the solicitors and it shows the house has been underpinned.
Our 1st thought is to just walk away. It's the most sensible thing to do isn't it?

Yorkie1

I'd certainly consider it. I assume the survey & valuation were done on the basis there had been no underpinning / structural issues?

How long ago was the underpinning?

Has the seller still got it properly and fully insured? This is frequently a major hurdle with an underpinned house, depending on the age of the work. You can often transfer the insurance policy from the existing owner but if the house is currently empty I wonder what insurance the seller has in force now.

Fire_Fox

Sneaky vendor, they want to know you have the money available so can't reduce the offer price when you find out about the underpinning. Bet they have sales fall through before - ask the agent if they have and, if so, why you were not told about the underpinning.

northwest1965

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I assume the survey & valuation were done on the basis there had been no underpinning / structural issues?
How long ago was the underpinning?
Has the seller still got it properly and fully insured? This is frequently a major hurdle with an underpinned house, depending on the age of the work. You can often transfer the insurance policy from the existing owner but if the house is currently empty I wonder what insurance the seller has in force now.

We weren't told about the underpinning at all before the survey (which is really annoying) Should we have been told????

It was underpinned in 1994. We have asked for more documentation.

They have since had a side extension put on the side of the underpinning.

Problem is, when we come to sell on:eek:

northwest1965

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Sneaky vendor, they want to know you have the money available so can't reduce the offer price when you find out about the underpinning. Bet they have sales fall through before - ask the agent if they have and, if so, why you were not told about the underpinning.

Why can't we reduce the offer price???

Yep it has come to our attention a sale fell through last year

francescaeales

I'm in exactly the same situation...but the vendors are claiming that they didn't know it was underpinned (and aren't insured for the underpinning!) Can this even happen?! Our solicitors found it...how could theirs not have?!

I totally sympathise, I feel so down because it is totally the house of my dreams. Plus we've spent £900 on a survey (which the vendor didn't even have...only had a valuation survey done on a 1700s house...am I dealing with idiots!!!?)

Anyway, anyone in this situation I feel so sad for. I feel like the vendors and the estate agent are lying to me (saying that they didn't know) and am trying to buy a house with no insurance to take over.

Gutted. Any help on how the vendors could not know or how to insure a house uninsured for underpinning would be most appreciated! xxx

northwest1965

francescaeales wrote: »

Any help on how the vendors could not know or how to insure a house uninsured for underpinning would be most appreciated! xxx

OMG, it's crap isn't it!

Have you tried to get an insurance quote? We only found 2 or 3 companies that we could use. How long ago was the underpinning?

francescaeales

So crap. Our solicitor thinks the underpinning was done in 1990. Our surveyor said all looks in order and there's no sign of movement so I'm happy with the house itself...it's just the insurance! And the lies! At the moment our solicitor is contacting the vendor's solicitor to find out about the work carried out and get the guarantee info,papers ect...but if the vendors didn't know, how will our solicitors get this info?

I have got so many quotes. If there was nothing wrong with the house I could insure it for £150. With underpinning it's like 500! It's a lovely character cottage and I'd be happy to pay a bit extra to live there but I just worry when it comes to selling it on others won't feel the same! Plus usually they say just take on the persons insurance but they aren't covered!

I would suggest looking at Legal and General. How long ago was your underpinning down? With L&G if it was done over 15 years ago it looks like they don't have such a problem with it but I'm going to give them a call tomorrow to check this out. They quoted me £250 which is the best I can get but without full details of the underpinning it's hard to get the full picture. I'm pretty worried our solicitor won't be able to get any documentation - then I don't know what we will do. I guess very sadly pull out.

Thing is...how do you know how much to knock the house price down by? Have you had any advice from your solicitor/mortgage broker on what to do?

arbrighton

OH bought previous house and got almost to exchange before his sol discovered it had been underpinned (whole row of terraces was). Almost walked away but did eventually renegotiate and insurance was I believe transferred.
Having had this experience, we were clear we wanted to be upfront when it came to sell. Unfortunately, head honcho at EA conveniently forgot this conversation when briefing his negotiator, so when it came to us accepting an offer and wanting to tell the FTB (they did all viewings and didn't mention it), they fudged and called it 'building work' that had been signed off.
Then, prior to exchange, after we had already moved away for OH new job, FTB got insurance quote (insane amount) and pulled out.
Despite our instructions, it was not mentioned at viewings. So, when another offer came in, we insisted that potential buyer was told, apparently causing arguments between negotiator and head honcho. But buyer said 'fine', proceeded not to have a survey (cash buyer, INSANE!) then gazundered us prior to exchange having discovered that it was insurable, but more than he expected. Despite us forwarding all of the information to him. Not the innocent little old man he'd portrayed himself as.
Completed in June.
Would have been mortgageable.
Was insureable.
No movement in the 6 years we were there

francescaeales

God that's bad luck! This is why I don't trust their estate agent!!! Haha or the vendor!

Still don't get how anyone can not find out about underpinning...I thought all solicitors do searches for this as part of the buying process. Very suspicious of the vendor now. If they had been upfront like you were I wouldn't have any problem at all!

paul1964_2

I bought an underpinned property a couple of years ago and the vendors and EA also kept quiet about this until our solicitor told us.

Our solicitor got details of the underpinning and the building regs approval from the council and advised us to get it checked by a structural engineer, rather than a surveyor (we had already had a full structural survey). I think the structural engineer's report was around £600.

Insurance was a bit of an issue, with some insurers refusing to quote (although it was also in a flood risk area, so this didn't help) and others refusing to offer subsidence cover. In the end, Aviva gave us a really good quote, so I don't think the underpinning has greatly increased our insurance costs .

Don't be afraid to reduce your offer - its the vendor/EA's fault for letting you pay for surveyors, etc without telling you of the subsidence/underpinning.