Subsidence issue

iwb100

I think the issue is you want to move again. If you said this was the forever house you could buy and get the work done (once you’d determined what that involved and the cost ). But if you want to move within 10 years I’d be buying a much safer house without any sign of subsidence.

Rural_Puppy

timmy_bolt said:

Rural_Puppy said:

Check the cause of the subsidence. Might be due to broken drainage?

Thanks for the response
There isn't any drainage at that end of the property, all our drainage runs along the back. The downpipes in this area just pumps water out onto the flower bed that runs along the edge of the house.

I potential and probably exasperating cause but as I've read, you never know the true cause and solution until you've got maybe 20 years of no movement recorded.

Ok. That sounds like a lot of moisture going into the ground near the house. Potential cause of subsidence I would have thought.
You need to establish the cause of any subsidence. Any large trees around the house? 

timmy_bolt

Rural_Puppy said:

timmy_bolt said:

Rural_Puppy said:

Check the cause of the subsidence. Might be due to broken drainage?

Thanks for the response
There isn't any drainage at that end of the property, all our drainage runs along the back. The downpipes in this area just pumps water out onto the flower bed that runs along the edge of the house.

I potential and probably exasperating cause but as I've read, you never know the true cause and solution until you've got maybe 20 years of no movement recorded.

Ok. That sounds like a lot of moisture going into the ground near the house. Potential cause of subsidence I would have thought.
You need to establish the cause of any subsidence. Any large trees around the house? 

No none. A small tree is there but I doubt enough to cause an issue. Maybe 3 meters in height.
There is a retaining wall at the boundary. I'm just thinking maybe that has moved slightly from ground pressure over time and has allowed the soil to shift...

timmy_bolt

iwb100 said:

I think the issue is you want to move again. If you said this was the forever house you could buy and get the work done (once you’d determined what that involved and the cost ). But if you want to move within 10 years I’d be buying a much safer house without any sign of subsidence.

Thanks, I'm increasingly coming to the same conclusion...

Periodpropertyowner

Can I just jump in here with a question? There are a couple of cracks starting to show inside my house since I bought it. None are diagonal. Seem to be where walls meet. There are no cracks running through multiple bricks externally but I can see some bricks here and there with cracks. Should I be worried? It's an old house built c.1870 and it does have wonky floors/walls... I thought it was part of the character. Now Im worried! Thank you! 

verytired11

I bought a house with subsidence that had been fixed with underpinning by the previous owners 5 years previously.  Mortgage company were fine with it - just recommended we stay with the same insurers.  For quite a few years I was tied in to the same insurers as no other insurer would take on a house with recent subsidence.  However, as time passed I managed to change insurers and no problems other than a slightly increased excess.  I am selling now 20 years later, so I will keep you posted as to whether it causes an issue for my buyer.  I think the key distinction though is that when i bought the cause of the subsidence had been identified and the underpinning already carried out, so the risk was less and as time passed and there were no further problems it became a non issue.