Need advice on selling a house re: Underpinning

TheMetatron

Ive had my home on the market for about a year and its costing me a bomb as i live 200 miles away, i finally got desperate enough that i accepted an offer well under my asking price, and then started the problems.

There are minor cracks in the brickwork, the house is early 1970's build, and has a conservatory built at the back (less than 10 years old). When the buyer had their survey done the cracks were noted and their lender requested a structural surveyor carry out a more in depth survey. For the sake of getting things moving, i footed the near £500 bill. Their results were inconclusive, the predictable 'it may be subsidence... but it may be nothing... we dont know' so they requested more work, setting me back another £350 for a drainage survey and a trench dug along the side of the foundation so they could inspect it.

2 days ago i got the results, its not subsidence, its settling, and other than some remedial work on the brick work, nothing urgent needs to be done. The surveyor added that they cant promise subsidence wont occur in the future, requiring underpinning, and my response was that an asteroid may hit the house, doesnt mean it will.

So now my buyer is telling my estate agent that his lender will require the house to be underpinned anyway and the remedial work carried out, costing approx. £5000. and he claims he cant cover the cost, suggesting i cover it.

My worry is this, why would any lender require underpinning on a house that a survey document states doesnt require it, just to obtain a mortgage??? Im starting to think the buyer is playing me and im close to pulling the plug on the deal rather than be ripped off. As for the remedial work, as it is not urgent, should i really as the vendor be lumped with this? The buyer is getting my house £15 grand under asking, and im a single guy, without a permanent job with less than 10 grand in the bank.

I know this is a ramble, but any advice would be greatly appreciated...

moneyistooshorttomention

You can do without a buyer like that - well I hope you can. You could end up doing that unnecessary underpinning on the house and the buyer then does a runner and you've ended up with an underpinned house with attendant problems.

Is it possible to rent the house out instead whilst waiting for a "turn in the market" if this is the only sort of buyer/price you can find for it for the moment?

TheMetatron

id debated renting, but id rather sell now and have my own place. Renting my house out will barely cover rent on a place for me and i wouldnt be able to have pets either.

I dont see why i should pay to have a house underpinned that doesnt need it and risk anything, but this buyer has me stressed out along with my poor estate agent. Im sure this should be going through my solicitor as well, i think he's trying to play me

kingstreet

TBH it would have been more sensible to get a structural engineer's report, rather than a structural survey. The engineer would have commissioned the trial holes, if he thought they were necessary and the cost of the job would have been a lot less.

Did you see a copy of the original valuer's report? I'm surprised a surveyor made such an error.

TheMetatron

ive double checked the details for the company that sent me the report, they are a structural engineering firm, and the general theme is 'We dont know. It could be this but it might not be.' for the initial report, once we'd had the foundation inspected it was identified as settling on the foundations.

My issue is not the cost of these reports, at the end of the day i can accept the cost and write that off. Its the fact a structural engineer has said that it is NOT subsidence, but has added that they cannot promise it wont occur in the future, which is a ridiculous statement to make when i need cold hard facts. And now my buyer is claiming his lender could want £3000 of unnecessary underpinning in order to approve the mortgage plus £2000 or remedial work, which seems stacked against me in the worst possible way.

kingstreet

I see.

I read your opening post as a suggestion that you were asked to commission a structural survey, then the structural surveyor requested a structural engineer's report and trial holes.

M conclusion was therefore erroneously based on an unnecessary structural survey which didn't actually take place...

As the vendor of a property being asked to consider a price reduction for what I thought was unnecessary or spurious "repairs," I'd ask to see written evidence of the value now, the value after essential repairs and proof that the lender is demanding this and the amount of the retention being held, before I'd consider it.

Call their bluff. Ask for a copy of the mortgage report and valuation and lender's written confirmation of required repairs/estimates.

TheMetatron

sounds like a very good plan, i'll get on that and im going to consult my solicitor and an outside legal source. thank you for the advice

SG27

IThere's no harm in asking for evidence but I suspect that your buyers are just as stressed about this as you are! Our mortgage company forced us to get a damp and timber report. Which thank fully came back as no remedial work required as the issues in the valuation he considered consistant with the properties age. We then came near to exchange and the mortgage valuer decided to demand timber treatment certificates. We pointed out that the specialist survey and our full structural survey had deemed the treatment not necessary but they still wanted them! We already knew that the vendor had treated the timber himself. (he completely renovated the property and is a builder by trade so did almost all work himself) so after more back and forward with the lender, signed letters from the vendor and letters from the solictor, they finally gave confirmation that they would lend but made it clear they were not happy and recommended that we still get the wood treated again!

So now we have to spend a couple of grand on unnecessary woodworm treatment just to satisfy mortgage lenders when we come to sell!! Madness!!