Buying a house with "history of movement"

JJMosley

Hello

We were so pleased to have an offer accepted on a house recently in an area we love with excellent schools near by for our little one, every was going so well (too well!) until we had our home buyers report back which identified "significant movement" within the house and a structural engineers report was recommended to investigate this further. We obviously got this completed and our worries were eased a little as the report stated that the movement was historic and he house had settled. We asked the vendors if there were aware of any issues, it turns out they weren't however having viewed the property again it is clear to me they have decorated to compensate. They are now saying they new about the historic movement when they purchased the property 23yrs ago but haven't had any issues in the time they have been there.....

We now face the decision to proceed or not to proceed and hoping there might be some people out there who have experienced the same issues. We have spoken with our mortgage company and they are stilll happy to lend.

Are people aware of insurance companies that specialise in subsidence? we have only been able to get a quote through one insurer, it concerns me that we would be at their mercy when it came to renewal.

Secondly what are people's experience when dealing with properties that have historically moved? Has this lead to future issues? Did movement start up again?

What are people thoughts about re-negotiating a sales price? The agreed price at the moment is in line with current houses sold in the area.

TIA

davidmcn

Historic non-progressive movement is pretty commonplace (I think some surveyors stick it in every survey of older properties to cover their behinds), and if you've got a structural report saying it's all in the past then that's substantially more reassurance than 95+% of buyers have. Don't think it's anything to worry about or justifies a reduction in price.

rtho782

Other houses exist without this issue. Walk, or reduce your offer substantially.

Typhoon2000

So there was no subsidence then? Why are you try to get insurance quotes based on previous subsidence?

Mickygg

Personally I wouldn't pursue. Simply because it would be on my mind the whole time once bought wondering if it will move again.

Typhoon2000

Historic movement usually just meant settlement which all houses do, even new builds. Ask your structural engineer for clarification. As as been mentioned, as you have a structural report on the building, I would be more confident than buying any other house without one.

Marvel1

Me personally would walk away.

Davesnave

cjdavies wrote: »

Me personally would walk away.

This is the sort of reaction many potential buyers will have, so it's something you should bear in mind. Even with a satisfied lender and a positive engineer's report, many would rather take a chance on a different house, which could well be less substantially built.

Much house buying decision-making isn't rational, so it's how that might affect you in the future which is the greatest concern.

How does the settlement manifest itself and why was that so easily spotted by just a homeowner's survey? How did you spot it even after the owners' re-decoration?

JJMosley

Thanks for all your advice, It is a tough decision and we want to explore the issue thoroughly before taking walking away option, which if we need to we will.

We didn't initially notice when we viewed the property however on review (with survey results) you can see that in one section of the house, the floors slope ever so slightly and the owners have compensated when decorating, the tiles in the bathroom for example clearly show a slope of about 1 1/2 cm. I know houses aren't ever going to be perfect but we have to make sure we aren't making a mistake.

The movement has been caused by subsidence so this has to be declared to insurers, the main issue we are having with the insurance companies is that the house has moved but no longer moving however nothing was done to rectify such as underpinning.

kinger101

For an insurance point of view, many want words like "historic, longstanding and non-progressive". 1.5 cm isn't that much either. Could get that just from settlement. One possibility is taking over the current owner's policy (ensuring it's not cancelled).

I don't think this is serious, but like others have suggested, the fact it might raise it's head again when you sell would make me think twice. It's probably just a matter of declaring it at viewings so paranoid folk don't waste your time.