Oh no! Subsidence

dominoman

After finally finally finding our dream house, I have just had a call from the surveyor who says there is evidence of cracking front and rear, some of it recent.

We have looked and looked at so many houses, and this one seemed perfect. What do I do now. Is subsidence fixable? Is it worth it?

In despair

maninthestreet

Subsidence canbe fixed, but getting buildings insurance may then prove difficult or prohibitively expensive.

Tancred

dominoman wrote: »

After finally finally finding our dream house, I have just had a call from the surveyor who says there is evidence of cracking front and rear, some of it recent.

We have looked and looked at so many houses, and this one seemed perfect. What do I do now. Is subsidence fixable? Is it worth it?

In despair

Did you not notice the cracking when you viewed the house?

Not all cracking is a sign of subsidence. It depends on where it is, the pattern of the cracking and also the width of the cracks.
Many surveyors will shout 'subsidence!' just to cover their back sides. My advice: get a specialised building engineer to give you a second opinion.

Dan-Dan

dominoman wrote: »

After finally finally finding our dream house, I have just had a call from the surveyor who says there is evidence of cracking front and rear, some of it recent.

We have looked and looked at so many houses, and this one seemed perfect. What do I do now. Is subsidence fixable? Is it worth it?

In despair

IF it turns out to be subsidence , be wary of having it fixed even with a reduction in purchase price , you will be on the market for a looong time come selling time , even then , it will probably only be of interest to a cash buying investor to use as a let property

best of luck

dominoman

Does anyone know the costs of underpinning, roughly? It is a 3 bedroom terraced house, around 120 sq metres.

Given that this is the right house in every other way I'm wondering if we should just live with it and get it fixed as best we can.

bryanb

dominoman wrote: »

Does anyone know the costs of underpinning, roughly? It is a 3 bedroom terraced house, around 120 sq metres.

Given that this is the right house in every other way I'm wondering if we should just live with it and get it fixed as best we can.

I guess the other houses in the terrace are also affected, I'd run for the hills.

Rain_Shadow

dominoman wrote: »

After finally finally finding our dream house, I have just had a call from the surveyor who says there is evidence of cracking front and rear, some of it recent.

We have looked and looked at so many houses, and this one seemed perfect. What do I do now. Is subsidence fixable? Is it worth it?

In despair

Yes, almost always. What isn't fixable is the view insurers and future buyers will take.

DaftyDuck

Tancred wrote: »

Did you not notice the cracking when you viewed the house?

My advice: get a specialised building engineer to give you a second opinion.

Is this the same Tancred who recommended a 10 minute look was enough, and to leave everything else for the surveyor to do a homebuyer's survey on?


Edit: It was :D:D

Tancred wrote: »

The surveyor will tell me what I need to know - that's what I am paying him for. If he finds big problems then I discuss it with the vendor and we see how best to proceed. I don't want to do my own survey.

Tancred

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Is this the same Tancred who recommended a 10 minute look was enough, and to leave everything else for the surveyor to do a homebuyer's survey on?


Edit: It was :D:D

If there are significant cracks they should be pretty obvious - 10 minutes or not.

Dan-Dan

Tancred wrote: »

If there are significant cracks they should be pretty obvious - 10 minutes or not.

Uh Oh Bob the Builders here

ognum

Have you considered that maybe the reason this house is in your budget is because the owners know it has subsidence! If it didn't it would be more money and out of your budget!