Mine under property

paddy29

I had a thread at the weekend and things have moved on since then. Basically looking to buy a house, there is a mine directly underneath it that has not been treated.

It was valued at 62k by surveyor when nothing was known about this mine, the surveyor is Colleys who are owned by Lloyds group who also own the property.

So the surveyor has come back and said that this mineshaft will not affect the value as long as we can get insurance on standard terms.

I find this astonishing to be honest, is there any circumstances that an untreated mine under a property would not cause the value to decrease by even 1%?

Also what does insurance on standard terms mean?

AdrianC

"Insurance on standard terms" means that you can just get a quote, as per normal, from any ol' insurer without having to go to specialists or have a specialist policy. If insurers are unbothered, why should anybody else be?

I think I'd be paying for an independent survey, though, and making sure they explicitly take that into account.

paddy29

Might be a good idea, hate the thought of paying more money, suppose I could ask them to pay for it.

AdrianC

No, it'd come out of your pocket. You're the one who wants the reassurance and/or second opinion.

If you think the few hundred quid for a survey is too much, compared to the potential consequences, then you're clearly not that bothered by the issue, so might as well just move forward...

PasturesNew

After I responded to your earlier thread, I 'investigated' the property I'd known of. In 1995 it'd been for sale at about £70k. I said somebody'd bought it - and then had to move out as it'd become unsafe. I found that it'd been sold in 2012 for £100k. To put this in perspective, it should have been worth £200-220k. I noticed a planning application to demolish it - and that included the words "and to cap the mine". I think that capping a mine costs about £20k as I've seen one done on Grand Designs before and I'm sure that's what the cost was. It involves digging out the hole and shoving 000s of cubic metres of concrete in it.

paddy29

AdrianC wrote: »

No, it'd come out of your pocket. You're the one who wants the reassurance and/or second opinion.

If you think the few hundred quid for a survey is too much, compared to the potential consequences, then you're clearly not that bothered by the issue, so might as well just move forward...

It's not that i'm not bothered by the issue, I was hoping the surveyor would knock 30%ish off the price then I could use it to renegotiate. I wont be buying this property for 62k i'll walk away. I asked the bank to pay for the interpretive coal report and they agreed so no harm in trying but its try everything before walking away not try before I buy.

paddy29

PasturesNew wrote: »

After I responded to your earlier thread, I 'investigated' the property I'd known of. In 1995 it'd been for sale at about £70k. I said somebody'd bought it - and then had to move out as it'd become unsafe. I found that it'd been sold in 2012 for £100k. To put this in perspective, it should have been worth £200-220k. I noticed a planning application to demolish it - and that included the words "and to cap the mine". I think that capping a mine costs about £20k as I've seen one done on Grand Designs before and I'm sure that's what the cost was. It involves digging out the hole and shoving 000s of cubic metres of concrete in it.

Basically i'm doing calculations in my head based around the property being around for 20 years and me potentially ending up with nothing at the end. I don't think that's too far fetched considering its an area riddled with mines, there is no subsistence reported in the area and its been up for 60 years.

Its 550-600 a month to rent same house round the corner, I pay it just now. So if I can get a good deal on the purchase price I still thinks it works out ok for me. I have already paid 23k just renting here for the last 3 and a half years. This house has a much bigger garden as well.

Thanks for looking into that for me, gives me an indication of what kind of discount I should be looking for.