Selling a house with historical subsidence

Sarahfgraves

Help !

My partner and his ex bought a house and when going to sell
they buyers had a survey that showed up subsidence. So they
Went to the insurance company and they sent out the appropriate
People to look at it. The company came back and said it's historical,
Didn't need doing so we didn't go ahead.

Sooo now we're buying the ex out and I'm concerned that we won't
Be able to sell when we want to in the future. Can anyone
Give any advice on this ? I've seen when we sell we have to tell
Solicitors if we've made a claim which technically we did but didn't
Go through with the claim ?

Help

Pete9501

If in the future you lie when selling and are caught and there is a problem, you are in trouble.

However, you could declare it was historic and was investigated when you bought the house (now) and no further action was needed. Keep all the paperwork.

What was the reason for the subsidence? if its a tree that was cut down then fine.

kiddakidda

My partner and I are currently (all being well) purchasing a property that had subsidence through a leaky drain over 18 years ago.

The vendor was honest and open with what happened had all paperwork that showed the repair works carried out with completion certificates. We have looked into insurance costs which we found not to be excessive and covered us in all aspects of buildings cover.

So for us, as long as the person that is selling is upfront and honest and there has been no re-occurrence of the subsidence then in our case then there is no reason why it would happen again.

The survey that was done may have suggested subsidence but it would not have said it outright. That's why the insurers would have paid for a specialist to look at it prior to paying out on a claim.

In your case there was no subsidence so what's the concern? As far as I am aware no checks on failed claims takes place in the conveyancing process.

nubbins

Hi,

I had an offer accepted on a house I looked at and discovered that an insurance claim had been made for subsidence 10 years earlier and and faults rectified. The seller gave me permission to speak to his insurance company to make sure they would still insure me and found out the insurance would be approx 1k a year. I was torn because I did like the house but when I started delving deeper I realised that the subsidence history would always stay with the house and reading around forums it seemed similar to buying a CAT C car, the car may run without trouble for years but when you come to sell it, it can be very difficult. As I said I loved the house and was prepared to stay there for years but I wanted 10% off the near full asking price I offered as a result. The seller said no and I pulled out, the house has been on and off the market for months but I think it has now sold.
For me if I found a "forever house" and there was some subsidence history I would consider it but only if I got it for a price which I felt comfortable with and took into account higher insurance premiums and possible future resale problems.

Good luck

Sarahfgraves

Thank you all for you replies , I emailed the company that came out for the insurance company and they sent over the report so it says " no evidence of recent or ongoing foundation movement and believe the damage is due to historical lateral failure of the left hand flank gable and wall end"

Recommendations that 2 of the pipes are redirected so the water doesn't go directly into the ground. Which we will obviously do now winter has approached. No trees near. No cracks in the walls the olly annoying thing is you can see the old Victorian feature above the door I'd slanted slightly.

Seeing this report has put me slightly at ease but would you advise to tell an estate agent these detail and give/show them a copy ? We would be honest and it hasn't effected our insurance premium.

Thanks again your advice is much appreciated

nubbins

So was there an actual insurance claim put in for subsidence?

Personally I would be honest from the start because when you come to sell the property there will be something along the lines of "Do you know of any historical problems with the property" from either your solicitor or the buyers, if you say no it will cost you later on when the buyers come back to sue you.

cloo

Historic subsidence needn't frighten people off... a lot of older properties have shifted a bit at some point.

Sarahfgraves

nubbins wrote: »

So was there an actual insurance claim put in for subsidence?

Personally I would be honest from the start because when you come to sell the property there will be something along the lines of "Do you know of any historical problems with the property" from either your solicitor or the buyers, if you say no it will cost you later on when the buyers come back to sue you.

We put in the claim and the insurance company sent out a company to assess the subsidence, who then came back and said it basically didn't need doing so that was the end, I presume that does class as a claim ? I would be upfront and make sure we show copies of the report just hope this doesn't put people off.