Landmark search results high subsidence risk?

SG27

Hello,

We have received the results of our searches for the property we are buying. Which seem to come from a company called landmark.

It says this under groumd hazards:

"insurance claims from subsidence
A high ratio of valid subsidence claims in the postcode compared the rest of Great Britain. This may indicate a risk of subsidence at the property.

what do the risk rankings mean?
The risk ranking represents the ratio of valid subsidence claims located in a postcode expressed as a percentage of the total numbers of properties located in that postcode as compared to the rest of Great Britain

very high The risk rank of this postcode is within the top 25% of all postcodes that have recorded a high level of valid subsidence claims.

high The risk rank of this postcode is between 50% and 75% of all postcodes that have recorded a high level of valid subsidence claims.

moderate or high The risk rank of this postcode is between 25% and 50% of all postcodes that have recorded a high level of valid subsidence claims.

moderate The risk rank of this postcode is within the lowest 25% of all postcodes that have recorded a high level of valid subsidence claims.

This particular house shows as high. Now this house is 3 streets from where we currently live. This didnt show up when we bought our current property. Furthermore accordimg the council building control website the last house in a town of 3000ish to have been underpinned is about 1/2 mile away in 2017. Before that there was a one 2006, then a few in 90s.

So this doesnt seem to make sense to me? Has anybody got any experience of these reports? Also if some is between 50 amd 75% of the national average doesnt that mean its just slightly above average?

bouicca21

It's likely to be thecsame for every house in the neighbourhood as it will be down to the type of soil. The existence of London clay means that surveys regularly say that houses in the London area are at high risk of subsidence. Doesn't stop people from buying them.

SG27

The house is in the south East so not far from London. We happen to know the people who buying the house next door but one and they said they didnt see anything in their search results indicating ground hazards amd its the same postcode. Also I did a quote for home insurance as I would have thought an area of high risk would demand higher premiums but they are lower than my current property!

I think these searches are a waste of time?

Doozergirl

SG27 wrote: »

The house is in the south East so not far from London. We happen to know the people who buying the house next door but one and they said they didnt see anything in their search results indicating ground hazards amd its the same postcode. Also I did a quote for home insurance as I would have thought an area of high risk would demand higher premiums but they are lower than my current property!

I think these searches are a waste of time?

These searches are to advise you to do your homework.

Being built on clay doesn't indicate anything like certainty of subsidence. Even in a very high risk area I bet that it's still a very small minority of houses that end up affected. The insurance premiums will indicate how insurers assess the risk.

You might want to get a CCTV survey of the drains to check their condition and you might not want to grow any large trees near to the house. It's the same with any house, really, but you don't want to cause any major fluctuations in the level of water in the ground that are avoidable - that's usually where the problems occur, rather than just being built on clay. It's a maintenance thing.