We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Selling a 11yro house under NHBC Structural assessment

Hi all
Hopefully someone can help us with our predicament, or may have had experience similar.
We bought a new build house in 2009, which we now rent out. Late 2018 just before the 10 yr NHBC guarantee ran out, our tenant reported what was thought to be just Movement cracks were now significantly growing wider, both inside the house and outside. It is a corner house, linked to others. NHBC began investigating and in Feb they appointed a company to monitor both inside and outside with various brackets, and technical equipment every 2 months. They are reporting it is still moving away from the other houses. There is another 4 months of surveying. The cracks are now 1.5 to 2 inches, it is sort of detached now! Our tenant cannot decorate inside, nor can we, the interior ceiling walls look a mess. We have had to reduce the rent for the inconvenience of this and for the surveyors who need access inside the property.
We are actually now in a position where financially we need to sell the property, but how can we sell it when its under such investigation? I doubt we can get even close to it's value now, let alone when the results are finalised, maybe it needs Pinning. Either way, we are going to struggle to sell it full stop! Where do we stand legally? Do the original estate builders have a duty to purchase it at market value? Or do the NHBC compensate?

Comments

  • sal_III
    sal_III Posts: 1,953 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    The original builder most definitely don't have a duty to compensate, yet alone buy back at full value. They provided you with NHBC warranty to deal with that.

    The NHBC warranty will pay for making good on the defect, but AFAIK the process is drawn out, so I wouldn't count on it getting resolved soon. Especially if there is ongoing movement they are monitoring etc.

    The warranty itself is transferable to the new owners and I assume also is the ongoing claim/incident, but I would advise to call NHBC and ask them to confirm.

    Even if it's transferable you are right to assume you will have to settle with much lower value, that is if it's even mortgageable in it's current state.
  • foxy-stoat
    foxy-stoat Posts: 6,879 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Everything will sell at a price - you will probably be restricted to cash buyers who are taking a punt (low ball offers).

    Getting a resolution with NHBC will take a very long time as you know. Has the actual cause been identified yet of the movement?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 354.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 247.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 604K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.4K Life & Family
  • 261.5K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.