FTB, house has subsidence.

HappyPlace

My partner and I recently completed on our first house. We got a couple of builders round as soon as we completed, and they both spotted subsidence in the front of the house. They were shocked when we told them we had had a structural survey completed and stated that a professional should not have missed it. We then exposed a small piece of the wall behind the crack and low and behold there was an inch wide crack running diagonally up the brickwork. This is going to cost us in the region of £25,000 to make structurally sound.

Rewind three months, we had a full building survey done by a RICS surveyor. He suggested we get a structural engineer in to take a look. The bank did their basic valuation survey and required that we do a damp and rot survey as well as a structural survey. As requested by the bank we got both done.

The structural engineer was arranged by the conveyancing firm we were using. We specifically requested that they were a chartered engineer, with ICE or IStruct accreditation. The survey was done (no issues apparently) and duly submitted to the bank. The bank rejected the report as the “engineer” incorrectly reported the underlying geology. The person who surveyed the property was also not a charted engineer, and was rather working under the guidance of the company owner. Two revisions later and the owner of the structural engineering company finally visited the property and sent the exact the same report to us with no additions. The bank then accepted the report.

Back to the present, we now have a property with subsidence in the front and possibly the back and are facing mounting costs to fix. Solicitors says it isn’t worth suing as the costs are likely to be as much as the work so if we lose that will be £50,000. Now the proud owner of a house we can’t move into… What’s the best course of action here? Could we claim against the company’s indemnity insurance?

Cakeguts

So your builders who are not structural engineers are telling you that you have subsidence? What makes you so sure that they are right and the structural engineer got it wrong?

Norman_Castle

We then exposed a small piece of the wall behind the crack and low and behold there was an inch wide crack running diagonally up the brickwork.

What was this crack hidden by? The inch wide crack could be historic movement which was covered years or decades ago only noticeable now due to minor movement in the same area.


What has the structural engineering company said about the newly discovered crack?

HappyPlace

Cakeguts:
This is a fair point, we are looking for another structural engineer currently to get another survey. In addition to the two builders, we have had two architects come out. They also identified the issue as subsidence.

Norman Castle:
The crack was hidden by the lime plaster. There was a large crack in that lime plaster and we specifically asked about it. The window in the front was also coming away from the wall and there are regular horizontal cracks in the outside render. The window sill was cracked in half and the skirting board was sagging in that corner of the building upstairs and down. I haven't approached the company yet and am hesitant to due to the previous issues.