Advice needed please: subsidence history and missing lintels

venna

We are in the process of buying a house that was built in 1970, detached on Cheshire clay soil. The reports have come back and the house was found to have subsidence, at the rear, in 1990 due to a 'leakage from the adjacent service water drain'.

At the same time it was noted cracks above one of the rear windows was due to "lack of support to the face brickwork ... no specific provision by the builder but merely the brickwork had been built off the window frames. Or possibly the lintels are in-situ concrete and it was hoped that the concrete would adhere to the back of the brickwork" and that this should be "remedied at a suitable time".


It seems the subsidence was remedied by 'mass-concrete" underpinning the rear of the house (hand dug due to large mature TPO tree nearby, not thought to be an issue). There is no mention of work to the drain. It seems the windows were left to be done at "a convenient time" i.e. not touched. Windows now need to be replaced and we had planned to do it on purchase.


We have already booked in a 'home buyers' survey. We really, really need to move asap but all the above is making me very unsure. Does anyone have any advice??

marksoton

venna wrote: »

We have already booked in a 'home buyers' survey. We really, really need to move asap but all the above is making me very unsure. Does anyone have any advice??

A home buyer report isn't going to help you one bit with those alleged issues.

You need something more substantial like a structural survey.

venna

I think you are right. Have just emailed surveyor asking to upgrade to structural survey. Even doing that not sure if it is just going to have impact long-term and just how much extra its going to cost to install double glazing.

Alter_ego

venna wrote: »

We are in the process of buying a house that was built in 1970, detached on Cheshire clay soil.

Does anyone have any advice??

Buy a different house

dc197

Yes, a structural survey to see what's going on now is essential. Forget the HBR.
The drains may have been repaired as part of the work in 1990. No mention made, you say, but perhaps further documents will be forthcoming? What docs have you seen so far?

The windows issue is likely to be related of course. But might not be: There may have been no lintel and the windows frames were meant to bear the load, and father time has caused problems. This is not the end of the world. Just make sure of course when you replace the windows that the workmen know to replace with similar.



I've been in a very similar situation recently. My advice is to ask for ALL the paper work (insurance report, loss adjuster's report, monitoring reports, etc) from 1990. To get your own survey done now. To see the current and post-1990 insurance policy documents to see what the excess etc regarding subsidence is.
Many insurers won't touch you once you tick "yes" to the dreaded S-word. Forget them. Many other insurers will not care about a claim from 1990 and will insure under ordinary terms. So just avoid the highstreet names and most certainly avoid the price comparison websites.

Edit: I also advise to ignore whatever the sellers tell you. They may have forgotten or mis-remembered over the years. The paperwork is king for th old issure. And your own survey is king to tell you what's happening now.
For example, the vendors of the house we are buying thought tat their 1990s tree-based problem was solved by underpinning, but their insurance paperwork says this work was not necessary.

venna

Thank you dc197 that is a very good idea. We will email solicitors to ask for those documents.
The house is being sold by the off-spring as their Dad is deceased and Mum in a nursing home. So I imagine they may not have even known about these issues.

dacouch

So the house now had a rear that is underpinned and a front that is not underpinned. One side of the house is stronger than the other.

Missing lintels...

What type of tree is the mature tree adjacent to the house? I hope for your sake it's not a willow and are there any other trees close to the house especially at the front of the building

savingfortomorrow

It must have been a bit of a shock to hear that the house you bid on and liked has these issues.
Why must you move fast- are you being pressurized by the sellers? If you are being pressurized by the vendors after receiving this bomb shell of information run away.

You need a bells and whistles survey. Bu before even booking this you need to make sure this house is mortgage-able or insurable. If a reputable mortgage company or home insurance company will not deal with this house, it will be a nightmare to re-sell. A quick phone call to a household insurance company will tell you if you can get household insurance (the owners may have an existing policy pre dating any repairs or not disclosed the work).

You need the best and most expensive survey- get the cameras to look at the drains. This is not wasted money as you can prove no recent movement and enable a mortgage or re-sale.

There sounds like a lot of issues and speaking from hard learned experience spend the money on professionals and be confident the house is structurally sound.

If there is no lintils or rsj’s be very fearful of the quality of the work commissioned by the owners as it sounds like they have used cowboys. Be willing to walk away from this house as long term it could cost you more if there is difficulty in re-sale and unknowable and incalculable costs to remedy failure to fix drains years back.

When you buy you buy the consequential damages the vendors have caused by leaving stuff to fix at convenient times.

venna

The tree is a 150 year old oak which all reports say should be no issue (as long as it never has to come down) as was mature long before the house was built.


It sounds like the lintels are missing or insufficient due to bad practice at the time it was built. The owners had it from new and looked after it well, including avoiding the lintel issue by just putting in secondary glazing. There are other houses on the road constructed at the same time, with new double glazing. So I think I need to go and knock on some doors to ask how they dealt with the lintels issue.


The rush is not to lose the buyers for our house who have been waiting patiently for us to be able to move (find a house) but who's patience is not going to last much longer.


Thank you for the suggestion of talking to the insurance and mortgage companies: now added to the 'to do' list for tomorrow (would post smiley face if I knew how)

marksoton

An Oak, from what i've experienced should not create a problem ( But bear in mind other peoples perceptions when considering resale )

The lintel issue would bother me far more and the fact foundations were never sufficient. It beggars questions over the whole build quality.

jbainbridge

Don't let the worry of losing your buyers make you buy the wrong house. Given the issues you are finding ... This may be the wrong house!