Subsidence Issue

Lisa_D

Hi,
I am after some help/advice. I purchased a property in 2013 in which the surveyor noted that the property has a crack on the right flank but appeared to be non progressive. I now have this property on the market but noted that further cracking has occurred.


Building survey completed and advised that this should have been picked up three years ago and that the issue was due to the tree in the back garden. I have had to have a tree specialist who has confirmed that the property wont heave. I am now having the tree removed.


I have already lost one buyer but my concern is that I wont be able to sell the property noting that the property wont settle for another 6 months. Has anyone been in this situation before and been able to sell their property. Is there any indemnity insurance I can take out?

Tiglet2

To be honest you should probably take the property off the market and get the remedial work done, including repairing the crack by removing the cracked bricks/mortar and making good as well as work to the tree. What kind of tree is it? Removing a large tree with spreading roots can cause heave, due to the increased moisture in the ground without the tree there to absorb it. Depending on the type of tree, pollarding might be a solution. Once the work has been done, the property can be monitored (maybe for a year) to confirm that there has been no further movement. If this doesn't solve the issue, you may have to involve your insurance company.


I don't think there will be any kind of indemnity policy that will suffice in this situation.

Smodlet

I agree with Tiglet2. Either fix all the problems yourself, up to and including underpinning if required, and then re-market or price to sell the property in its current condition, taking the cost of remedial works into account. It will be a very naive buyer who does not commission a building/full structural survey on a property with such obvious issues.

Lisa_D

I have already completed 90% of the works myself. I did the building survey and obtained a tree specialist report which confirmed the property will not heave once the sycamore tree is removed. The tree is being removed now. The only thing I wouldn't look to do is repair the crack noting the time it will take the property to settle.


Do you think that the property will still sell noting the previous movement?

Smodlet

I would not buy it, however much of a bargain it is. I would do as suggested above. Unless there is some reason why you cannot wait for the property to settle and make good the whole thing, I think you will have to be prepared for prospective buyers to fear the worst. How do you know the tree's removal will not result in heave? You cannot know this beyond all doubt until it has been removed, no matter what any "expert" tells you.

I would factor the cost of underpinning into any offer I made on such a property and just be glad if it turned out to be unnecessary.

Lisa_D

I had an arboricultural report completed and due to the type of tree it wont cause heave. I have an empty property that I need to sell as its losing me money.


Think I will need to look at how much underpinning costs

Smodlet

I know it is thousands rather than hundreds. It all depends on the length of underpinning required. If you are correct about the tree's removal not causing an issue, underpinning may not be required but, unless your buyer were a builder, a surveyor or a civil engineer, they would be unlikely to know that.

Anyone with a grain of sense prepares for the worst case scenario when buying a house, I think, having said which, there is a wealth of clueless FTBs out there; just look at this board! You may find one without the sense to come on here and ask for advice.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Have you involved your insurance company? Is the damage so far covered by your insurance and if further damage occurred would that be covered by your insurance?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If so your insurance co may offer to provide your purchaser with continuous insurance so that the risk continues to be covered after the sale.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Otherwise the big problem any purchaser has is that they do not know if they will face a future expensive repair bill which will not be covered by their own insurance since the fault was evident in the property when they bought it.[/FONT]

Norman_Castle

Lisa_D wrote: »

obtained a tree specialist report which confirmed the property will not heave once the sycamore tree is removed.

Out of interest, how big is the tree and how close to the property?
I believe underpinning is rarely used for tree damage as the ground will stabilise after shrinking or heaving.