Property has suffered previous Movement but no evidence to suggest this is ongoing

GSLEstate

Hi all,
I'm in the process of buying a 1970s build detached house. The property is dated and needs bit of updating. Looks like hasnt been updated for the last 30 years or so. Has a double story extension done on the attached garage to the property.

I have the mortgage offer in place from the bank and as part of it the bank recently did a Valuation of the property. The Valuation report mentions 2 points under 'Matters Affecting Value':
1. The property has suffered previous movement but I saw no evidence to suggest this is ongoing.
2. Parts of the property are thought to contain asbestos material

Then it says property is in acceptable condition for lending purposes and they have valued the property at what I have offered on it.

I am concerned about point 1 above. I think the movement noticed is where the double story extension over the garage joins the original house. Most probably due to settlement after the extension was built 30-40 years ago.
Tried contacting the bank's valuer but they refused to give any further details on the survey they have done.
Asked the vendor if he is aware of any movement to the property in the past, he said he is not aware and has never mentioned it when taking out any Home Insurance policy on the house. Also he has never claimed on any movement or Subsidence.

Looks like my option now is to go for a full structural survey or get a Structural Engineer report to get details of this point on movement mentioned in the Bank's valuation report.

Present owner never declared movement on his Insurance policy as he was not aware of it as he says, but now I am aware of it as its mentioned on the Valuation report, so should I declare it when I take out the Insurance?

This issue seems to be deal breaker for me as I dont want to take the headache of dealing with it. So thinking if I should progress with the purchase or back out. I'd appreciate any advise on this please.

Many Thanks

rajeshk4u

You can get a structural engineer to carry out a survey, but they will scare the living daylights out of you.

Another point in your favour, is the property has n't been updated in the last 30 years, so they have n't tried to cover anything up.

Make sure you get it in writing, they have not had a claim for subsidence, otherwise your new insurance will not cover it. Better to continue with the same insurer.

You should be concerned about Asbestos, it depends where it is and it can be expensive to deal with. The general consensus, is don't touch it, don't drill into it. You need to find out where it is. If it is in the ceiling and you have a water leak, you will need specialist asbestos company to remove the ceiling. Water leak should be covered by insurance.

Davesnave

As you're dealing with an unmodernised, older house, which might have other issues, a surveyor would seem best suited here, paying particular attention to this matter. You cannot rely on a survey done by your lender as you didn't employ them and their report is unlikely to be detailed anyway..

It doesn't sound like a deal breaking problem at this point; all new builds settle and asbestos in one form or another is usually present in properties of that age and beyond, so I'd wait for a surveyor's advice before declaring anything.

AdrianC

If you aren't happy with the valuation survey your lender did, then get a survey done yourself. If you don't want a general one, then just get a structural engineer to investigate the particular area of interest.

Then base your "go ahead or run screaming" decision on actual information instead of a one-liner. It's not scared the lender away, after all. Nor, from what you've said and without even a single pic, would it scare me away.

AnotherJoe

Parts of the property are thought to contain asbestos material

Thats just a meaningless catch CYA statement. Might be artex, soffits and fascias, heating trunking or around boiler, tank in loft, could be dozens of things.
Only way to avoid that, buy something built after about 2000

davidmcn

I find it almost ubiquitous that surveys of older properties will refer to historic, non-progressive movement. I suspect some surveyors just copy and paste it in to cover their backs(ides).

No, it's nothing to be worried about, or justifies getting structural engineers in, or to be reported to your insurers.

Littleonesunshine

When I had

Littleonesunshine

Structural movement than it was written in my valuation that it needed to have a structural engineer have a look. I guess your surveyor is saying everything is ok.

I wasn’t able to go through with the sale.

GSLEstate

Thanks all for your responses.

As suggested here, I've now appointed a surveyor to do a full structural survey of the property.
Haven't really mentioned to him about the Historic Movement issue reported by the Bank's surveyor in his Valuation report. If this issue really exists then he should be able to pick it up and report in his survey. Lets see what this full survey comes back with...

Sammypooler

A chartered surveyor?

GSLEstate

Sammypooler wrote: »

A chartered surveyor?

yes, chartered surveyor.