Purchasing a House - Mining investigation

jacks101_2

Hi I'm buying a house with my partner, thought we were finally about to exchange when the final search (mining) came in saying there is likely to be an adit under a portion of the house and a site investigation is needed.

We've done some research and see the cost of such an investigation is around £2.5-£3k. Very annoying, we initially thought this would simply hold things up by a week or two but the sellers come back to us saying that the onus is on us to pay for the investigation! I don't quite get this as surely it should be on them? We said no initially and they have now come back to us saying they'll go 50/50 or the deal is off. Incredibly frustrating as we have already paid £2k in various mortgage fees, searches and solicitor fees.

Given the sellers are simply selling a deceased relatives house (no-one is living in it) I am surprised they will not pay. Surely no buyer will part with another £1.5k to find out that potentially the house is unsafe and needs £xk investment it make it safe?

Would be great if anyone has any experience of something similar and could share it with me

straas

Have you asked the coal authority for co ordinantes of the adit, or any abandonment plans?

Your costs for a site investigation appear to be on the low side.

If an adit is found and requires treatment, it could easily cost in excess of £50k

sunshine2223

We had the same when buying our house, we were quoted £2k which we couldn't afford to risk. Luckily the estate agents were very helpful and they essentially told the vendor that if they didn't pay for the investigation themselves then they would have to put the property back on the market as cash buyers only at a significantly reduced price due to the suspected mine shaft!

I think it helped that the vendor was selling 2 properties (they'd renovated a big house and turned it into 2 houses) so they were going to lose a lot of money dropping the price on both and could have the report done to cover next door at the same time.

But might be worth speaking to the EA to find out if they have a similar policy as they might be able to put some pressure on!

kingstreet

Before you spend any more money, put a copy of the mining report in front of your surveyor and the insurer you intend to use.

You may find the value of the property and its reduced insurability prospects make it a poor purchase.

Typically, an entry, shaft or adit within 5m of the property will see some reduction in its value.

jacks101_2

Thanks for all your replies. Our surveyor was the one who got the mining search report first so is aware of it and is in contact with the vendors solicitors. We will not be insuring it until we buy it so I cannot really present it to any insurers yet.

It appears as though the assumed adit is running directly under the corner of the house which is where we hope to extend. While there is another known (much deeper) adit running through the other side of the property. It is also running through all the houses on the side of the road we are looking to buy though so these people obviously still bought despite the issue.

We've this morning stated to the vendor that under no circumstance will we consider paying for the investigation and we are prepared to walk away despite our costs already though, hopefully this will jolt them into paying rather than going back to the market

silvercar

Thanks for all your replies. Our surveyor was the one who got the mining search report first so is aware of it and is in contact with the vendors solicitors. We will not be insuring it until we buy it so I cannot really present it to any insurers yet.

No harm in phoning some insurers for indicative quotes.

kingstreet

jacks101 wrote: »

We will not be insuring it until we buy it so I cannot really present it to any insurers yet

I do it as a matter of course.

As I said, I would not be spending any more money until I established I could insure it.

Dimey

Do you really want to be buying this house even if the vendor's agree to pay?

Sounds like you'll have trouble re-selling. And value is always going to be limited.

Shame the vendor didn't disclose the situation before you invested in mortgage & solicitor fees. Rotten situation.

jacks101_2

Thanks - I have checked some insurance quotes on a comparison website and they were similar to our current place but I don't think there will be much to say to the insurers until the actual site investigation is done as currently its speculative (and if the investigation confirms there is no direct risk to the property then the insurers do not need to be informed)

It's fairly common for such mining issues in the area we're buying (just outside of St Ives, Cornwall) so yes we still want the place and if the mining investigation shows there isn't any direct risk of subsidence to the property or surrounding land from the adit then there will not be any issue in re-selling. The deep adit is known and there is no risk to the property, its the assumed adit not currently confirmed thats the issue. There are no mining shafts close to the property its justs the adits runnning between them

I genuinely dont think the vendors knew of the situation - the place was owned by their deceased relative for 40 years when I don't believe such scrutiny was given to mining searches.

Sunshine - be interested to know what came of your investigation - was any further work carried out?

monty-doggy

Keep us updated, this is v interesting! Good luck x