Yet another subsidence question...

simonalexander2005

Hi,
I'm sure you've seen hundreds of these, but anyway...

We are looking at purchasing a house. We love the house, know and trust the current owners personally, and are happy with the asking price.

The only issue is (and the owners were very open about this from the start), last summer a small crack appeared at the front of the property, zigzagging diagonally up and left from above the front door. The current owners put in an insurance claim, and the insurance company have said it's due to a tree that is council-owned out the front. It's clay soil, and a dry summer caused the issue.

The insurance company are currently in the process of monitoring the house / processing the claim (including asking the local council to remove the tree).

I am aware of the general financial issues surrounding subsidence (hard to insure, hard to resell); but I haven't seen anything about buying a house that is currently having subsidence sorted. What are the risks involved here? Their insurance company have said that, in principle at least, they can transfer the policy and the claim to any future buyer of the house.

My plan was to get a full structural survey done (anyone able to recommend a good chartered engineer in Cheshire East?), and take it from there.

My main concerns are, because the issue is new, removing the tree may not solve it; or the ground could heave as the tree is removed and stops taking moisture from the soil.

Any advice?

Stubod

..me..I would run a mile..or even further.



I would not take a risk unless the house was priced to allow for "major" underpinning expenditure at some point. (ie what would the cost be, then double it...)

simonalexander2005

...but wouldn't the continued insurance cover it?

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Be prepared for a lot of hassle even if you take over the insurance claim.[/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The movement may or may not have stopped, it may get a lot worse. Sounds like some repair will be needed, even if it is only brickwork reinforcing rather than underpinning.[/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The council may or may not remove the tree, they probably do not have money in their budget and may take years even if they do agree to remove it.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]After the claim is completed you may have to pay a substantial increased premium and the subsidence excess may be much greater.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I dealt with the sale of such a property last year, the insurance claim took 9 years to complete, the council took years to remove the tree, the premium increased 5 fold and the excess to £2,500.[/FONT]

simonalexander2005

Thanks for the advice.

The council may or may not remove the tree, they probably do not have money in their budget and may take years even if they do agree to remove it.

- again, won't the insurance pay the council for this, as part of the remedial works?

the insurance claim took 9 years to complete, the council took years to remove the tree

- there is precedent in this case - a tree down the street was removed a few years back for similar reasons. What's the typical timescale for something like this, then? I can imagine the insurance company monitoring for a year, then fixing the house up if nothing moves; then monitoring for a further year or two...

Tom99

simonalexander2005 wrote: »

won't the insurance pay the council for this, as part of the remedial works?

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I doubt it. Its the council's responsibility to remove the tree if the roots are causing damage so the insurance co will not want to pay for that if they can avoid it.[/FONT]

PhilE

I wouldn't advise buying the house.