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InThrees
Posts: 18 Forumite
Hi there
We're attempting to purchase a Victorian (built circa 1900) mid-terraced house. Our mortgage lender carried our their valuation survey which highlighted movement (no detail given) and that, if we wanted to proceed, we'd have to provide them with a more detailed structural survey at our expense. We've done so and our surveyor has indeed noted movement.
The following notes were given (I've removed some of his more general points):
There has been some structural movement to the front left hand corner of the dwelling. There has been some similar movement to the front right corner of the adjoining terraced house to the left. The front section of the party wall separating number ?? and number ?? has dropped slightly. This has led to the brickwork, stone heads and stone sills to the front elevation of the subject property sloping downwards slightly towards the left.
The rate of slope is around 10/1000mm and only the left hand part of the front elevation of the subject property is affected. This is consistent with differential settlement. The minor differential movement to the front left corner of this house appears longstanding. It is of a relatively minor nature. There are no obvious signs of significant recent movement and the risk of further significant movement is thought to be low. No structural repairs are considered necessary. The extent of movement which has occurred is insufficient to cause any structural concern.
We were put at ease at this (in our naivety?!) but, after speaking with him (he's very approachable - not a given with surveyors as some research on this forum has taught me) he was very surprised we wanted to proceed with our purchase. In a nutshell he warned of resale issues where other buyers might have major concerns with any evidence of movement, not to mention lenders and building insurers.
My girlfriend thinks someone will buy it; it won’t sit there unsold (it’s a very popular area). I’m inclined to think we should walk away as we’re storing an issue for further down the line when we’ll want to sell on. It’s hard to remove the emotion from the process (we like the house and love the area and have been looking for ages) but would appreciate your thoughts on this movement issue.
Thanks folks.
We're attempting to purchase a Victorian (built circa 1900) mid-terraced house. Our mortgage lender carried our their valuation survey which highlighted movement (no detail given) and that, if we wanted to proceed, we'd have to provide them with a more detailed structural survey at our expense. We've done so and our surveyor has indeed noted movement.
The following notes were given (I've removed some of his more general points):
There has been some structural movement to the front left hand corner of the dwelling. There has been some similar movement to the front right corner of the adjoining terraced house to the left. The front section of the party wall separating number ?? and number ?? has dropped slightly. This has led to the brickwork, stone heads and stone sills to the front elevation of the subject property sloping downwards slightly towards the left.
The rate of slope is around 10/1000mm and only the left hand part of the front elevation of the subject property is affected. This is consistent with differential settlement. The minor differential movement to the front left corner of this house appears longstanding. It is of a relatively minor nature. There are no obvious signs of significant recent movement and the risk of further significant movement is thought to be low. No structural repairs are considered necessary. The extent of movement which has occurred is insufficient to cause any structural concern.
We were put at ease at this (in our naivety?!) but, after speaking with him (he's very approachable - not a given with surveyors as some research on this forum has taught me) he was very surprised we wanted to proceed with our purchase. In a nutshell he warned of resale issues where other buyers might have major concerns with any evidence of movement, not to mention lenders and building insurers.
My girlfriend thinks someone will buy it; it won’t sit there unsold (it’s a very popular area). I’m inclined to think we should walk away as we’re storing an issue for further down the line when we’ll want to sell on. It’s hard to remove the emotion from the process (we like the house and love the area and have been looking for ages) but would appreciate your thoughts on this movement issue.
Thanks folks.
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Comments
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Being approachable does not prevent him from being an idiot.
What was his explanation for writing one thing and saying the complete opposite?0 -
You can probably tell how difficult it will be to sell from the price it is on at now. If it appears to be "good value for money" or cheaper than you would have expected for the area that it is in then that is because it has this problem which makes it harder to sell. You just have to understand that however much you spend on this house it is never going to make the top price for the area.0
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He writesNo structural repairs are considered necessary. The extent of movement which has occurred is insufficient to cause any structural concern.
He sayshe was very surprised we wanted to proceed with our purchase. In a nutshell he warned of resale issues where other buyers might have major concerns with any evidence of movement,
Odd, don't you think?
Have you presented his report to your prospective mortgagee? What is the verdict?
Have you asked the vendors about current insurance on the property?0 -
I think my question to myself would be, if and it sounds like a big if by the sounds of the written report there are issues in the future will I be covered by insurance. If I were to buy I would ensure I had the best buildings insurance on the market!"You've been reading SOS when it's just your clock reading 5:05 "0
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sammyjammy wrote: »I think my question to myself would be, if and it sounds like a big if by the sounds of the written report there are issues in the future will I be covered by insurance. If I were to buy I would ensure I had the best buildings insurance on the market!
Even the best insurance on the market won't cover you for a pre-existing fault.
The surveyor is saying that the risk of further structural movement is low, but the presence of structural movement will reduce the pool of potential buyers. This is just factual and not a contradiction.
Given the report, I would probably buy the house if you really like it.0 -
Thank you kindly for your responses, folks.
Our mortgage has been approved. We’ve also been offered buildings insurance through a broker who didn’t seem the least bit concerned given that subsidence hasn’t been mentioned and movement is likely longstanding. I did, however, get the feeling I was talking to a salesman (which I was) who was quite eager to fix me up with a policy - I will have a careful read of the documents before proceeding.
The issue of the difference between what the surveyor wrote and what he said was explained by him as being the presence of movement is enough to put some people off, reducing our potential pool of buyers as noted by david1951. It is safe for a mortgage but risky in terms of reselling. I’m also concerned that future mortgage companies or different surveyors for future buyers might not be so optimistic. We've also been advised that 10/1000mm movement is significant.
Our next step is to knock on the neighbours’ house and ask if they’ve had any issues. After all, some of the movement affects their property.
We’re still very conflicted but realise is it our decision to make.0 -
The worry I'd have is that if you needed any work done, the adjoining house might not be amenable to that, and that could add serious complications. Or even if they were amenable, what if to make your house right, more works need to be done on their house which their insurer wont pay for.
I'd give it a miss.0 -
Hi folks
Thought I'd follow up with some actual photos. Most of you have advised to stay clear but I'd appreciate any thoughts on these. The 'bulging' bricks near the window or nothing to worry about apparently, it's the movement between the two houses that could be an issue.
postimg.cc/gallery/x1w2khji/
Think you'll need to cut and paste the link into you search bar - I uploaded them to an image hosting site but there are restrictions on posting links for new forum members like me (to avoid spamming apparently).0
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