Survey says structural movement, wwyd?

[mum2015]

We found a house we like but now that we have survey report, not sure what to do...
House is 1930s house, needs full refurbishment. There are some cracks in walls and wonky door frame and surveyor says these are potentially due to movement. The cause is most likely large trees near the house. Those trees are not in the property itself so not easy to get rid off.
What would you do? Walk away? Negotiate the agreed price?

I think I’d walk away, particularly if it’s not going to be simple to deal with. Lots of people are put off by structural movement, even if it’s been fixed, so you’d have problems reselling.

All houses move and settle. You want to find out if it is historic ( nothing to worry about outher than redecoration ( which it sounds like you are going to do any way) or if it is on going ( walk away). Only a survey from a structural engineer will be able to tell you.

I would talk to the vendors and explain that you won't buy it with the query of structural movement hanging unanswered. No body else will either, so they'll need to do something!

What should happen is that they put in a subsidence claim with their insurers. The insurers will take it from there, to get any trees removed if necessary and to treat any issues in the house. Once the insurers are engaged, there shouldn't be a problem with buying the house during the work, as the insurer is required to continue to insure the house with the new owners in cases of subsidence.

For what it's worth, our house had subsidence before we bought it. We bought at the end of the subsidence treatment, which was only instigated because previous interested buyers had surveys done that highlighted an issue.

The OP hasn’t mentioned anything to suggest subsidence though.

We bought one with 'possible movement' knowing it needed attention. In our case we got a full survey done which found the extension had slipped. It had never been tied into the original house. As subsidence wasn't the issue we were content to do the work.

I'd highly recommend paying more for a full detailed investigation before going further

Our 30's house is still Wonky but I now have paperwork showing how we've remedied the defects and how it isn't going anywhere!

Surveyor said it is more significant than the usual movement associated with house of this age and only way to confirm if it is ongoing or not is observing over few months by structural engineer. It is probate property, owners are very unlikely to start any work related to fixing it. They aren't even dealing with estate agent directly.

Normally I would say walk away BUT as it's a probate sale, the vendor will probably want shot of it. Subsidence is fixable - just expensive. If it would cost 30k to fix, knock 60k off the asking price for the inconvenience. Definitely knock a huge % off your offer - it reall isn't worth the hassle of dealing with unless it's worth your while.

what would be rough cost of fixing subsidence? dont know what price to knock off.

I'd say if it is subsidence be very wary unless can negotiate good deal. As well as issues when you come to sell, even if fixed your insurance premiums will be high. If general historic movement you can be OK as some insurance only ask about subsidence heave and landslip, where as others (including most aggregators) bundle subsidence heave and landslip with any movement.

Nothing to have said sounds like subsidence. If your getting a mortgage, you won’t be able to if there is subsidence, the valuation would be Zero. If you discover subsidence after purchasing the house, you would in a claim on your insurance.

The mortgage provider did valuation survey which didn't notice any movement and we have mortgage offer. We later separately paid and arranged for home condition survey which has come up with these issues.
I am not sure if it is subsidence or not, surveyor says unless observed and measured over time it can't be confirmed but the current observation is more than usual movement over age thing.
I don't want to let go of the house because we suspect it has subsidence, at the same time don't want to buy a money pit which we would struggle to sell.

If I really wanted the house I'd do as London suggested

A woundnt put any weight on anything the home condition surveyor has to say about the structure of the building. If you are concerned ( and it sounds like you are) get a structural engineer to report on it. He/she will be able to tell you if there is any subsidence without resorting to measuring any thing over time ( this would be to quantify any subsidence). And the advice would be insured as well.

A decent structural engineer will be able to answer all of your queries. Some of the advice above is not really accurate.

The Structural Engineer would be able to put you in touch with a contractor to get a ball park figure based on their findings. The SE should look at the cracks and the door frame to know what the problem is and also evaluate foundations and soil conditions. It might be subsidence or heave. Probably subsidence though. If it’s a fairly obvious case they won’t need to monitor for a long time.

With regard to putting this right, the contractor will essentially float the house on a raft of concrete. This really does provide a long term solution and no future buyer should be remotely concerned if the job is done properly. The current vendors insurance should pay if they won’t reduce the price. It’s happened on their watch. What you cannot expect is that other people will cut down their trees. They also don’t need to. Removal of trees puts more water back into the soil. You don’t want this. Subsidence is caused because the foundations are insufficient for the soil conditions and the building has dropped. You cannot put this right by cutting down other people’s trees.

If you love the house, get a SE report and start negotiating!

Thank you.

We got a mortgage no problem, by supplying the documentation from the insurance people to show that the house had been treated and all was now ok.

Our house insurance premiums have a higher excess for subsidence claims, but isn't higher except for that. Or is my understanding that the incumbent insurance company has to continue to insure the property at a reasonable level unless you wish to leave them; I'm not certain of this, but the incumbent certainly continued to insure us until we found a better deal and voluntarily moved companies.

We have remortgaged and successfully held house insurance with no issue (except for £1000 excess for subsidence claims vs £250 excess for other claims) since we bought the property. The remortgage valuation made no mention of the subsidence and the value they returned was as expected.

In our case, 10 years after purchase, it hasn't caused us any problems.

Ours was also a probate house. The vendors had it empty for a number of years while the subsidence was treated.

Thanks happyasasandboy. Good to know that you aren't finding it difficult to insurance. One main worry is the insurance.

Once a house is repaired, it is structurally more stable than its neighbours. Insurance should continue with the current insurers but you have a “belt and braces” house so ultimately other firms will take your business. You should ensure all work needed is done though.