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Spookeytookey
Posts: 14 Forumite
0hi
we have just reserved a property on a development
the search came back as med high risk.of subsidence.
calling groundsure they say its not the whole plot but a 75m2 area which our house falls under.
That seems risky and i want to withdraw.
im not prepared to throew money into something they should check before building.
they insist our search is the only won highlighting this....
what are our rights?
we have just reserved a property on a development
the search came back as med high risk.of subsidence.
calling groundsure they say its not the whole plot but a 75m2 area which our house falls under.
That seems risky and i want to withdraw.
im not prepared to throew money into something they should check before building.
they insist our search is the only won highlighting this....
what are our rights?
0
Comments
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Just because a bit of land is at risk of subsidence does not mean a hous built on it will be at risk. For all you know they might be piling the foundations of houses built on that section.
I recall this issue once before when someone built an extension to a relatively new house and in a short time the extension ws subsiding. When it was investigated further, they found the bit of land was known to be unstable and the builder had put piled foundations under some of the houses and the house was sitting solid but the builder that did the extension just used normal foundations.
I see 2 options:
TALK to them and get reassurance that the foundations will be correct for the land condition.
Or swap your reservation to another house on the development in a different part of the site, surely they would do that with little cost?0 -
Spookeytookey wrote: »calling groundsure they say its not the whole plot but a 75m2 area which our house falls under.
That seems suspiciously precise for a desktop survey. Have they told you what the margin of error is?
They will have checked the ground conditions before building, in considerably more detail than the report you have (and with expert interpretation). I'm not sure why you're assuming that you've got information which they haven't, or that their design can't cope with "medium high" risks of subsidence.im not prepared to throew money into something they should check before building.0 -
When new property is built, its foundations should take account of the condition of the land.
Long before building started, deep trial holes / trial pits would have been dug to investigate the composition of the soil etc.
A structural engineer will then have designed foundations that are suitable (e.g. deep enough) - to prevent any subsidence.
As an example, I recently saw some bungalows built on 15m concrete piles - because of the potential subsidence risk (clay soil plus large mature trees nearby).
I guess it's possible that the structural engineer could make a mistake and/or the builder could have taken short-cuts. But that's the case on any development, whether the subsidence risk is high or low.0 -
the thing is TW were not aware. at least thats as they told us.
this was the last design of this style property on this plot, they are still building but the design is smaller more expensive and not what we want.
we want to stay 5 years and move but the fear is issue selling if this med-high risk is highlighted.
after all if affected the 10 year warranty doesnt cover subsidence
insurance higher etc.0 -
Spookeytookey wrote: »the thing is TW were not aware. at least thats as they told us.
this was the last design of this style property on this plot, they are still building but the design is smaller more expensive and not what we want.
we want to stay 5 years and move but the fear is issue selling if this med-high risk is highlighted.
after all if affected the 10 year warranty doesnt cover subsidence
insurance higher etc.
Of course they must have been aware, their structural engineers and architects will have had to take this into account when developing the site.
My report stated medium risk stability but given the house has stood fine for 70 years, it didn't deter me.0 -
if i had a non new build i agree
but a new build with the agent acting shocked rings alarm bells0 -
Spookeytookey wrote: »the thing is TW were not aware. at least thats as they told us.
You've misunderstood.
House building is a much more sophisticated process than you imagine.
I suspect this misunderstanding has arisen because you (as somebody who is not expert in house building) were talking to a TW salesperson (who is also not an expert in house building).0 -
I suspect they just meant "not aware that a desktop report would disclose the sort of information which would spook a buyer", not that they haven't investigated the ground conditions themselves.Spookeytookey wrote: »the thing is TW were not aware. at least thats as they told us.
Yes it does.the 10 year warranty doesnt cover subsidence0 -
the response at tw was
this report is not possible cannot be correct we have no searches coming back with these findings ( bear in mind we are first in this actual affected area)
they presented it to the legal team 8 days ago- no feedback0 -
Spookeytookey wrote: »the response at tw was
this report is not possible cannot be correct we have no searches coming back with these findings ( bear in mind we are first in this actual affected area)
they presented it to the legal team 8 days ago- no feedback
Just to be clear... there is only a risk of subsidence in a building, if the foundations aren't adequate.
If you genuinely suspect that TW have made a mistake and built inadequate foundations, you could do the following...- TW will have excavated the ground in order to study the composition and structure of the soil.
- TW's structural engineer would have used the results to design suitable foundations
- The local authority's structural engineer will have checked the ground study, and TW's Structural engineer's calculations and design
So...- You can instruct your own structural engineer to check the ground study and TW's structural engineer's calculation and design
That might cost you about £1k, but that's less than the £15k it seems you might lose if you back out.0
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