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Coal mine entry on footprint of house... mortgage retracted
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OP, my advice wouldn't be to walk away, it would be to run! Just remember that most people don't buy a house with the intention of selling it but at some point you will probably want to, whether thats to upsize or downsize its a strong possibility and you have to consider that the things that put you off will put other people off and make it hard to sell. If its something like having a pub next door then the price can account for this but a mine shaft on the property that makes mortgage companies reluctant to lend is something that even making it cheap can't compenstate for.Whilst it might be a kick in the teeth for the vendor you have to do what is right for you and don't even consider what effect it has on anyone else, they certainly won't be considering the effect it has on you. I have just lost my sale as my buyer has lost their buyer and while its very dissapointing the people who have puled out are doing what they think is best for them and thats how you have to be in a property transaction. You are in it to get what you want, everyone elses problems are not yours to worry about.It might be that the vendor of the propery you were looking to purchase knew about this when they bought it in which case they should have considered it like you are now doing and also as above, it might be that they didn't know when they bought it in which case they should have been more diligent in their checks. It might be that they were diligent in their checks based on what was available at the time and have just been unfortunate, none of this however is your problem and you shouldn't make it so.Just remember that in future lenders will likely become more risk averse because thats the way the world has gone in the last 10 years on all different things. The likelyhood is that if you have difficulty getting a mortgage on it now it will be even more so if you try and sell it in future. If you do still consider the property despite all of this make sure you can get insurance on it, even if the coal board do cover subsidence insures may not want to cover it even with this exclusion or you could end up in arguement about what is due to the coal mine and what is due to other factors like below ground water and drain leaks. Excuse the pun but its a mine field you would be well advised to steer clear of, especially if you are a proceedable buyer who at the moment can probably have their pick of houses at a good price, I know if someone came to me at the moment and offerd me 10% less than asking price I would seriously consider it.0
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SaraJ96 said:jtur99 said:Hi everyone,
We are in the middle of buying a house. TSB gave us our mortgage, however they are now wanting to back out of this agreement (which I know they are allowed to do) due to the results of a coal mining search. It has shown that there is a coal mine entry on the footprint of the house. We have a mortgage advisor who is in the process of trying to get TSB to try and change their mind and let us have the mortgage, but I have heard that this is very hard to do?
We have had to submit evidence to them. This has included the detailed home buyers survey we had done, which show there is no evidence of subsidence and a report from the coal mining authority that says there were no issues during the latest inspection which was done in Jan 2020. The report also stated that no-one in the area has claimed against the CMA for subsidence.
The house was built in the 1950s, we have been told that if there was going to be issues due to the coal mine entry then we would have seen evidence of this by now? We have also had it suggested to us that due to the current pandemic, TSB may not have the man power to deal with a mortgage which could be more complicated due to having furloughed/ill staff. TSB want to see evidence that it has been 'treated' which from what I can gather means whether it was filled in. But apparently finding out this information can be quite difficult and it wasn't even mandatory that they had to record this anywhere.
The current owner knew about but it has never been an issue for them The CMA come to inspect t every 3 years. They have even had an extension built on the exact location of it. This had planning permission and passed building regulations.
Does anyone have any experience of this and can share the outcome? Or know any more about situations like this?
Many thanks in advance.
Sorry for the long post!
It's evident from the coincidences in the information you've stated in this post that the house in question actually belongs to my parents. Their house was built in the 1950's, and their buyers have just pulled out of a 4+ house chain yesterday because TSB would not provide them with a mortgage due to a mine shaft on the property... Maybe next time don't make the details in your post so specific that your sellers can find inside information regarding the sale that you probably don't want them to know.
I'd just like to let you know that a lot of the information you have stated is actually inaccurate and it seems you have been misinformed about some crucial information here. It has never been stated that the mine shaft is under the property or extension so if was you i would get in touch with your solicitor ASAP, also if TSB have been told the shaft is directly under the property then that's probably the reason why your application has been rejected... The mine shaft is actually on the border of garden of this property and the neighboring property. I'd just also like to clarify that my Mum has been open and honest about the mine shaft from day one and has made all parties aware of this, she had no reason not to as she didn't see this to be too much of a concern as she has had several mortgages over the past 20+ years, all of which the lender has been provided with accurate information of where the mine shaft is located.
I'd also just like to point out that the sellers are not "frantic" about you now pulling out of the chain, they are just merely disappointed as anyone would be at this stage. Also waiting until the last minute to renegotiate? - Did you think about all of the other properties in the chain that this would effect? Seems a little selfish personally to be so sly about your intentions. Let hope the "angles" look after you with your next purchase so you aren't the cause of any more disappointment or money lost. Good luck with your property hunt, and finding a seller in the area that isn't aware that you're likely to pull out last minute. All the best!
Please be honest and tell us that if a building society refused you a mortgage presumably on the basis of a survey done by a licensed surveyor but the vendor told you there was no problem you would pay any attention to what the vendor had to say
It would be interesting to understand how anyone can make such a fundamental error about where this shaft actually is.
This makes me think it may well not be the same house.1 -
SameOldRoundabout said:SaraJ96, I think you’re being a bit overly snarky. I can’t see anything the OP has written that would make it okay to threaten to spread word in the area that the OP may gazunder. He is absolutely within his rights to post here for advice, and I think anyone who didn’t have second thoughts given the information he’s been given would be mad! He clearly thinks the shaft is under the extension as stated in post one, if that’s not the case it is not his fault he has been misinformed. I don’t think trying to publicly shame someone who has not in any manner criticised the vendors or tried to be sly or sneaky is a particularly nice or fair thing to do.I’d find another property OP0
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I think with the amount of mine problems in the area with regard to selling a house, it is quite likely to be a different property. I suspect its more likely there aren't mistakes in the OP - there are differences because its a different property. The OP has no reason to lie.., they were trying to find a way to complete on the sale .., and yes I agree with the above post, if the mine shaft means the house is worth less than originally thought, then the buyer is absolutely correct to consider renegotiating once they discovered the existence of and ramifications of the mine shaft once they knew they could get a mortgage.1
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Run away very very fast, especially if you are dealing with people like that vendor. Sounds like a nightmare, and how dare they post on here criticising you asking for advice, I wonder what they would do if the shoe was on the other foot!2
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Don't forget as the population changes there are many people alive and working today that have never seen a 20th century coalmine or are even aware of anybody that has worked in a coalmine. Your mortgage application would likely have passed in front of one of these people and it will be beyond their comprehension. If your mortage application fails again then I'd suggest using a mortgage broker.
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