Structural problems with house

[Jeanneweany]

I need to decide whether to underpin and extension or to demolish. we would lose a room if we demolish but tjis means we will not have problems selling in the future. We are part way through the process of buying.I wonder has anyone else gone through this?

Id walk away unless youre getting it for a reasonable price

You haven't actually bought the house yet? If not, I'd run a mile.

If the position of the property is exceptional then demolish.

Presumably you have worked out costs for each and a valuation for each finished property? Would you save on VAT if you demolish and rebuild rather than extend?

Have Building Control signed off on it?

I am not sure about VAT.

Extrastout.we have not gone that far. The jouse is empty and the vendors have said they will reduce the price, so we would be getting it cheap. It is also in a sought after location. The engineer said the house is okay. How much does underpinning cost?

Have the mortgage company said they will lend to you on a house with such issues?

If a cash buyer now I'd demolish and either rebuild or sell in future with fewer rooms.

It is hard for buyers who need a mortgage to get one on a house that needs such structural work. Even if they could afford the structural work if they child have a mortgage

(Not that I'm bitter)

How much does underpinning cost? I think if you're having to ask that question I wouldn't risk it. Selling on if having been underpinned will be difficult impossible and rebuilding, again if you aren't experienced is a massive risk.

If you're having to ask on a parenting forum about underpinning costs, not looked in to building control and VAT, then I suspect you'd be in way over your head either way and should probably walk away.

Walk away. You don’t sound like you have the experience to either make this decision or to handle the work, regardless of what you choose. You would need to pay for a lot of expert advice before you could even begin to make this decision.

I always think that it's builder that take on these properties. Then I still don't know how they sell them on.

Thank you to everyone. I have had the flu so have not replied before. To answer I am experienced in buying and selling houses. We only need a small mortgage. Mumsnet is not just about parenting issues. It is large network ofpeople,women, who are articulate. knowledgeable and intelligent. Plus I thought that someone might have had this problem before. So thank you
So we are putting 80% down. The house when finished will be worth 270/280. We can get it for around 220. The area ishighly sought after and the housevisattractive. The engineer said the house is sound but the single story extension has in.adequate foundations.

Thank you Powerbunting. Your advice is what we hafe decided to do. x

We bought a house 2 years ago with problems with an extension (damp proofing, though). As lots of buyers tend to run a mile, we managed to get the house at a really good price, and we’re having structural work done at the moment.

I’d just say to get a really detailed survey (although be prepared that lots of issues may only come up after you’ve started work - we’ve had several ‘surprises’ that have led to a couple more months of work as well as £10k extra on the cost). Make sure the discount for the house covers the quoted cost of the work as well as a contingency for surprises. And be aware that there may be massive delays in getting a builder in; we approached about 20 building companies and only 5 bothered to quote, and out of those only 1 could start within 18months. So that may or may not add to your costs if you’re not going to be living there while the work is done. Our biggest problem has been getting people in to do the work. Since we started, we’ve had work halted so many times because the plumber/plasterers/electrician/joiners couldn’t come on the days we needed them and then all went off starting other jobs. It’s been a real pain.

The engineer said the house is sound but the single story extension has inadequate foundations. So that's not a subsidence problem, rather a crap builder problem. Demolish and have smaller house, or demolish and rebuild properly.

Thanks guys. Really good ideas. We have asked for £20000 to be knocked off the price. We feel once the extensionis demolished then we will rebuild x
.

Thank you.

I appreciate all of you taking the time to comment. I think I needed a sounding board and you have helped me clarify what I should do. We will demolish and rebuild. Have negotiated 16500 to do the work.
xxxxxc

You only get VAT back on new builds not extensions.
It's easy to get mortgages and to sell if houses are underpinned, an awful lot of houses are underpinned and sell without a problem, in fact they are stronger than those that haven't been done.

I think you should seek professional advice and estimates and add at least 10 percent and see if you are happy to pay that

I'd be worried that if there was one major issue with the extension due to crap building there will be others. I would budget to demolish the extension and rebuild and reflect this in my offer explaining why. Don't forget VAT it is a significant factor.
We are in the process of doing this on a clients house. We thought about tinkering with the old shitty extension but in terms of costs it was only marginally cheaper to try to fix and make it work than to demolish and rebuild and this way they get exactly what they want and no compromises.