NHBC to Underpin Property

mark8par

I need a little help please.

I purchased a new house in 2005, this came with NHBC warranty. A couple of years later i noticed some cracking and reported this to NHBC only to be told it was natural thermal cracking (which is not covered). It seemed to get worse so i requested they visit again a few years later, only to be told the same. A few months ago i noticed it was still getting worse and knowing my warranty was about to run out i contacted NHBC again and asked them to re look at it but to send a different person than the last two occasions.

They came to visit and decided to do further investigations and have found a problem with the foundations resulting from poor materials used by the builder. They are now looking at piling options to put it right.

I recently had a tenant in the property and they have decided to leave and i am told the work could take over 12 months to complete. This causes further problems in that
A. i am unable to get a new tenant
B. Empty property insurance is very expensive
C. Will this effect the value of the house?
D. Unable to sell thee house

There are various other possible implications, ie if i build an extension i would need to have piled footings, which is yet more cost to myself.

In an ideal world i would like them to buy it from me and i can then move on, but not sure if i have grounds for this

I have found the NHBC very hard to deal with but am unsure which way to go with it, any help would be appreciated

Thank you in advance

ruggedtoast

It really takes 12 months to underpin a property? Really?

Yes it will affect the value quite substantially, and insurance too.

eddddy

mark8par wrote: »

...
I am told the work could take over 12 months to complete.
...

This may be a general statement, and it almost certainly doesn't mean 12 months of building work.

Subsidence is often monitored for between 3 and 12 months to measure the rate and type of movement. Often it's done by putting metal studs in the wall and accurately measuring if/how they move.

The house can be occupied during this period - but an engineer will need to visit to take measurements (maybe once a month).

Then, if the work was being done by a 'normal' insurance co, they would offer alternative accommodation if the house is uninhabitable during underpinning works. I don't know if NHBC does that as well.

(But you would need very 'understanding' tenants, to put up with all that.)

mark8par

Yes that is what i have been told.

The engineer who came out said that by the time he puts his report in and then the NHBC put the work out to tender could take a number of months and then for the work to be carried out etc.

The underpinning is not being done because of subsidence, it appears the builder used poor materials for the crushed stone under the foundations. Also and this is the frightening part, the house is built on the edge of a pit (the land used to be a brick factory) so the property is half on solid land and half on the filled pit. The engineer told me that it should have either been build on one side or the other and not half on one.

ruggedtoast

mark8par wrote: »

Yes that is what i have been told.

The engineer who came out said that by the time he puts his report in and then the NHBC put the work out to tender could take a number of months and then for the work to be carried out etc.

The underpinning is not being done because of subsidence, it appears the builder used poor materials for the crushed stone under the foundations. Also and this is the frightening part, the house is built on the edge of a pit (the land used to be a brick factory) so the property is half on solid land and half on the filled pit. The engineer told me that it should have either been build on one side or the other and not half on one.

It sounds like a pretty bad house.

mark8par

I am just trying to get an idea of how i stand before deciding to seek legal advice or not. I know i wont need to pay for the work but it does however have a knock on effect ie value of property, insurance will be higher, people might be put off if i sell because of it. I am also loosing money as i cant really rent it out at the moment either.

Seems even though the builder made mistakes it still ends up costing me money, ironically the builder has been bought out by another builder, would they be liable??

Thrugelmir

mark8par wrote: »

ironically the builder has gone bust.

Perhaps not ironically.

Did the existance of brickworks not come up on the searches when you purchased?

mark8par

Im no expert but when we were buying it it wasnt flagged up as a problem.