Suspected subsidence, survey and insurance issues

Crazyzorse

Hi, I am in the process of buying a property. I am suspicious there might be subsidence. The property is a dorma bungalow about 50 years old and is not on clay as far as I know. The dilema I have is that I'm not sure whether to go with the basic mortgage valuation report or with the Homebuyers report. I keep getting told that either report will just say I need to get a specialist report if there is any suspicion of subsidence (and there are cracks, so I expect there will be "suspicion"), so I'm reluctant to spend the extra money only to end up at the same point. The property is for sale by an equity release firm, so no property information forms are being supplied. I don't know whether the property has previously been treated for subsidence or what insurance was available on it. I don't want to buy this property and end up with extortionate insurance costs and being unable to sell on.
Any advice/help/ideas most appreciated, thanks.

Yorkie1

There is no guarantee you will get a copy of the basic valuation if that's all you decide to pay for; even if you do get a copy, there's no guarantee you'll be protected by the surveyor's indemnity insurance as technically the lender is the client and not you (you just pay for it).

I think for subsidence you'd need a report from a structural engineer - I don't know whether they have the right expertise to provide you with a report which covers all the usual home buyer's report stuff as well as the structural stuff.

sgun

Are the cracks external as well as internal, and do these cracks match up? Are they diagonal and do they run from corner to corner or between structural points? Is there a visible roof sag or is the chimney (if present) showing cracks on the brickwork?

Unfortunately it is likely that if subsidence is suspected then a specialist would need to be involved. It could be though that the cracks are harmless. My present house has cracks all over the place but the basic homebuyers survey identified them as long-standing and nothing to worry about. My previous house developed cracks suddenly and a drain under the house was suspected but it still took 3 months of monitoring to confirm and sort the problem.

Do any of the neighbouring houses show any sign of remedial work?

Crazyzorse

Thanks for the info Yorky1

There are cracks inside and out and run diagonally under the windows outside. On the inside horizontally across the top of a window and then diagonally up to the ceiling, but these are at oposite ends of the house. Roof and chimney look ok. There is a concrete path that runs around the house which is very uneven, if that's relevant (not broken, but the poured slabs are all topsy-turvy). The outside cracks are in the mortar only - the bricks themselves are not broken at all.

Thanks for your comments folks - most appreciated.