New houses built very close to a cliff

pieroabcd

Hi,
recently I've seen a new development of houses built in a cove between a river and a cliff (it's more or less 50 metres high). The river is approximately 30 metres away from the closest house.
The sides of the cliff have a protective mesh. The builder told me that the cove has been there for centuries. There are older houses built on top.
Some of these new houses are approximately 30 meters away from the sides of the cliff.
I wanted to ask if there is any potential disadvantage in having a house so close to the cliff. The first thing that comes to mind is that some stone could potentially fall on the house if the mesh didn't keep them. in this case would the home insurance cover for the reparation costs?
Secondly, the light: accoridng to the builder the entrance will be facing the cliff (North facing), while the garden (South facing) will be in the opposite direction. My doubt is that  the North facing side (with the lounge and 2 bedrooms) could be cold and dark all the time, even more so considering that the cliff would block some of the light.
Maybe there's even some other downside that I'm not considering.
What do you think?

user1977

pieroabcd said:
The first thing that comes to mind is that some stone could potentially fall on the house if the mesh didn't keep them. in this case would the home insurance cover for the reparation costs?

Yes, I expect so, though if it's 30 metres away is it all likely that any falling stones will hit the house?

GDB2222

Insurance only covers perils insured against. The usual ones, are fire, storm, etc. I'm not convinced that landslide is covered. Anyway, it's easily answered by looking at a specimen policy, and I suggest the OP does that.

deannagone

I can't quite picture it but if the house is built against a cliff, the side facing the cliff face will definitely be dark, and colder than the other side.  I've lived in similar and had to put insulating wallpaper on the side of the property that didn't get sunlight.  The colder walls also caused damp. I definitely would not want to live in a house with a lounge facing a cliff face.  What direction (East, West etc) will the house be facing?

pieroabcd

According to the sales representative the cliff is north facing, so the garden would be south facing,  but google maps shows the opposite: it seems that the river is noth facing, so the cliff would be south facing.

Thrugelmir

Visit the site at different times of the day. To ascertain what the natural light is like perhaps. 

Grumpy_chap

pieroabcd said:

The sides of the cliff have a protective mesh. 
I wanted to ask if there is any potential disadvantage in having a house so close to the cliff. The first thing that comes to mind is that some stone could potentially fall on the house if the mesh didn't keep them. in this case would the home insurance cover for the reparation costs?

Is the mesh definitely to protect / contain any rockfall?  Or is it to prevent bird nesting?
As for what the property insurance will cover, what does the schedule state are the insured risks and exclusions?

AdrianC

Would you tell us where this development is?

From what you've said, there is no way on this earth I would be considering buying there...

Davesnave

Lots of houses are built on level areas cut into into slopes. The nature of the underlying rock determines susceptibility to landslides, but any property built towards the base of a north-facing slope is in a compromised position with regard to sunshine and should probably be avoided.

Davesnave

pieroabcd said:

it seems that the river is north facing, so the cliff would be south facing.

I can't follow your logic there. A mature river doesn't 'face' any particular way, as it's virtually flat. Perhaps in the mountains....

pieroabcd

Overall we have come to the conclusion that the balance between the beauty of these specific new builds and the downsides is negative, so we have decided to search somewhere else.