House with local Mine shaft

piperm87

Hi all, I've just viewed at house which has a mine shaft in the property that is next door.

Would this be a problem with the mortgage lenders if i were to attempt to buy it?

I'm a FTB and dont have much knowledge with mine shafts under propertys and how it can hinder the mortgage lenders.

I've already been to see an advisor who has given us a mortage in principle with a certificate saying we can have a home with nationwide mortgage lenders.

Does anyone know what their rules and views are when it comes to mineshafts and mortages??

I've tried barclays in the past and they said it has to be outside 20 metres of the property but obviously every bank and building society has they own views

Any help appreciated

Matt

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't buy it even if I could :-/

Unless I was going to let it, I guess then it would be fine :-)

Gingernutty

It's probably too close for any lender to give you a mortgage.

I lost close to £1000 trying to buy a house which had a mine shaft about four doors down.

It'll be cash only and not only will you have trouble selling it, that shaft has effectively shafted the house sales around it. They will be routinely priced at less than the rest of the neighbourhood and could even lose a lot of their current value.

Unless you have plans to let it out and get your money back that way, don't bother.

piperm87

Problem is we're on a tight budget and alot of the houses that are in our price range are either serverly run down, in rough area's or have mine shafts near by!

All the ones that are ideal for us are out of our budget!

Slinky

A severely run down house but in a better area can be improved over time. You'll never be able to do anything to improve your location near a mine shaft.

Werdnal

It depends whether the shaft is still open, or has been professionally capped and sealed. My hubby worked on a building site a few years ago, where they had several shafts. Whilst houses could not be built directly over them, several had them in their gardens. The shafts were professionally capped - dug out to an unside-down cone shape, steel re-inforced and thousands of tonnes of concrete pumped into them. This forms a permanent plug and makes them safe to live near.

However, you need to find out with a full survey whether this work has been done, to the correct standard, and whether any shafts or adits (horizontal tunnels) from the shaft run under your property - as these are known to collapse and subside.

Worst case scenario:

http://www.cornwallconsultants.co.uk/shaft-collapse-gunnislake.html


You may get a mortgage, but the price will always be affected by the presence of the shaft, whether capped or not, and may affect your fture selling potential, as other buyers will always have the same concerns and finance issues.

At least you know its there - many homeowners are unaware until they get a problem, especially in areas like Cornwall, where not all mines were documented and mapped, and 100+ years on, the fragile timber cappings that the old miners used to seal them up are rotting away ...

Errata

Mine shafts are a problem, but a bigger one is where the tunnels are.

kingstreet

I'd expect a mineshaft within 5m to make the property unmortgageable, if it hasn't been pressure treated.

Between 5m and 20m away would more than likely see some lenders decline, while others may accept, but only at a low loan to value. IMHO a shaft 5m-20m away would see the property worth 60%/75% of a similar unaffected property.