Selling house - possible subsidence

wmp92

Not sure if this is the correct area to ask this.

When selling a property I am aware you need to declare subsidence. What is the threshold for what you need to declare? For example - property has wonky floors and suspect this could have been caused by historic subsidence but no insurance claim/structural survey etc. so in essence this is currently just suspicion (no signs of movement at all whilst we have lived here, no cracks etc).  would I need to declare my suspicion? Or only if we’d made an insurance claim or sought a survey?

user1977

Even if the property has moved, that's not necessarily "subsidence" to blame. Much (probably most) of the time it's just settlement, and historic, and nothing to worry about.

Doozergirl

All houses move, that doesn't make it subsidence.  

wmp92

Thank you. Considered having it checked through insurance but suspect this is going to negatively impact trying to sel and probably best to avoid unless actually necessary 

user1977

If there's no cracks and you haven't seen any signs of movement, I don't see why you'd want to check.

Doozergirl

user1977 said:

If there's no cracks and you haven't seen any signs of movement, I don't see why you'd want to check.

This.  

There's no evidence to back up a
claim or a 'check'.  You'll end up causing a problem! 

TheJP

wmp92 said:

Thank you. Considered having it checked through insurance but suspect this is going to negatively impact trying to sel and probably best to avoid unless actually necessary 

As soon as you investigate it officially then that's the point you probably have to declare it. If you mention possible subsidence to your insurance company even if there is any they mark it on the register. Just leave it be and let your buyers investigate anything in their due diligence.

FreeBear

How old is the property ?

Historic buildings (often listed) often have wonky floors. It is expected, and part of the character of the property. In a relatively new build (within the last 100 years or so), there are plenty of other issues not related to subsidence that can cause wonky floors. Rotting of joists being one.

stuart45

A lot of people confuse settlement, differential settlement and subsidence.
A new building will sink into the ground when first done. The amount depends on a number of factors such as the type of subsoil. Ideally the whole building goes down evenly.
With differential settlement one part of the building goes down more than the rest. Can be a poor design where extra weight is transferred to a certain part of the foundation. With this cracks often appear in the building. However it stops after a certain point.
Subsidence is when the ground is affected by something else. Leaking drains undermining the foundation is a common cause. Trees taking the moisture from shrinkable clay is another, or mineshafts.
With subsidence the problems will often continue until the cause is corrected.