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Windsorcastle

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Mallotum_X

I see what you mean, hopefully the buyer will be none the wiser until after the event. After all as long as you can dump the place on him its his problem right...

Perhaps a little more honesty in the first place would have been in order.

JimmyTheWig

You will be asked about subsidence by the solicitor doing the conveyancing, so I don't think that you can get away from this.

The more you try to cover it up the more it will sound like it is a problem.
Obviously it's not something you would want to shout about on a first viewing, but I'd be tempted to tell them via the estate agents (i.e. people who should be on your side) before their solicitor tells them.

gayleanne

You have no chance of hiding this, even if they do get as far as to getting a mortgage and moving in (which I doubt) it will still backfire on you. For not informing the buyers.

Dan-Dan

make it 20!

cattie

I sold my house last year under similar circumstances. It had had remedial work carried out on it under an insurance claim a year prior to my buying it, due to tree roots.

As I was a cash buyer I had no problem regarding a mortgage but did have a full survey, asking surveyor to pay particular attention to the fact that insurance work had been done to repair the house. He gave it a clean bill of health.

When it came to selling the house, I'd actually forgotten all about previous owners having this work done when I first put it up for sale, but it suddenly dawned a couple of weeks down the line and I was then worried it might be difficult to sell. Anyway I spoke to ea who said not to mention it to any viewers til I had an interested buyer.

When I had an offer I told ea to inform buyer of the remedial works & lucky for me buyer was still interested as they loved the house. Like you, I was careful never to mention the S word either, but passed on to buyer all the paperwork I'd been given regarding the claim & works carried out & the certificate of structural adequacy.

When buyer had survey done (homebuyers) I was asked please not to breathe a word about remedial works by buyer as they didn't want to put the mortgage application in jeopardy & of course I had no intention of doing anything to hinder my sale.

No negatives flagged up on surveyors report when it was received by buyer, so sale went ahead with no problems whatsoever.

I hope my story gives you hope as with luck, as long as it isn't going to be a full structural survey, the surveyor shouldn't really take much notice of what's going on next door. Good luck anyway & hope it all goes smoothly for you.

Windsorcastle

cattie wrote: »

& works carried out & the certificate of structural adequacy.
.

BTW what is a certificate of structural adequacy? Never heard of that before. Is that something I could get done myself to give to the buyer?

cattie

Windsorcastle wrote: »

What if I offered to pay for 2 years specialist insurance cover for subsidence to give the buyer peace of mind - would that be feasible?

There shouldn't be any need for this. Insurers have a code of honour where they agree to continue to offer insurance on houses that have had subsidence. As long as your buyer sticks with the same insurer you currently have, then getting insurance will be no problem.

It doesn't have to be that premiums shoot up when there has been remedial works carried out, I don't know about your case, but when I bought the house that had suffered a problem, my insurance was only a pound or two over what I'd been paying on my previous property.

cattie

Windsorcastle wrote: »

BTW what is a certificate of structural adequacy? Never heard of that before. Is that something I could get done myself to give to the buyer?

I believe it is something that insurers issue after any remedial works have been carried out to a satisfactory standard & all problems resolved and property put back into good order. I know I had to pass mine on to my solicitor when selling. If you're not sure whether you should have had one issued, phone you buildings insurance co. to ask them about it.

Surveyor shouldn't ask you re subsidence. Just let him wander around & tell him to give you a shout when he is done, that's what I did. He was in & out in less than 15 mins then spent a few mins checking the exterior over before going on his way.

ruggedtoast

As part of the searches the buyers solicitors will do, the planning application to underpin the neighbour's property should come to light. If there has been damage caused by movement to your property they will put two and two together.

You certainly won't get anything like a normal insurance quote on that property again. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I was the buyer in this scenario a few years ago and I walked, after being !!!!ed around by a vendor who refused to be straight talking, learning that the obligation for insurers to transfer policies down to future buyers is an urban myth and after having committed hundreds of pounds in survey and mortgage application fees.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for what you are trying to do and it may well backfire. Your property has been damaged by subsidence and repaired under insurance. Be upfront about it now and obviate wasting everyones time including your own.

moneyistooshorttomention

Windsorcastle wrote: »

Yes, I knew that insurers have to continue insuring after a claim as I had to stick with the previous owner's insurers because of some claim to do with the roof before I bought. It wasn't a problem for me. At what point should I tell the buyer they need to stick with my insurer? I'm worried they might panic when they suddenly realise they can't use the insurer they wanted...

Instantly as in "yesterday".

The thought literally hasn't crossed my mind of having any insurer on the house I am in process of buying other than "I am sticking to my present insurer of course".

Most people will think that way and, if there is going to be an insurer glitch, it's better to know sooner rather than later (ie in case the buyer decides to pull out - not so much because they cant have their "own" insurer, but because they weren't even told they cant do so). I'd be livid personally if my insurer were decided for me and I hadn't had a clue it would be.

Tell them they aren't allowed to have their own insurer now and you might just save the sale (if you're lucky enough that they have fallen in love with the house). Don't tell them and there is a huge risk they will be so upset/angry that they will walk whatever they feel...and you have to find another buyer.